argus command-line parameter handling

[Winfred Harrelson]

On Fri, 14 Jun 2002, Chris Russel wrote:

> On Fri, 14 Jun 2002, Carter Bullard wrote:
> 
> > I think the problem is that the Argus project is
> > going to provide maximum flexibility, rather than trying to
> > keep the user from shooting themselves.
> 
> I completely agree with this philosophy and I don't think that's a
> problem.  I think this problem falls into the hidden/undocumented
> behaviours category.  Maybe my message will help with the documentation
> aspect.

I agree.

> My vote is to not load the default config unless no -F is specified. This
> is the behaviour the debian init script is expecting. BTW I have filed a
> bug with them since it is clearly wrong - allowing users to shoot
> themselves is one thing, having the gun pointed at them by default is
> another.

My vote is to leave it the way it is and make sure the documentation
mentions the way it works.

> The simplest thing would be to not load a default config at all and just
> use hard-coded values unless overridden by -F's or equivalent command-line
> parameters.  That would eliminate having to test for duplicate interfaces
> or duplicate config files (it's still possible but it would be the users
> doing). Obviously this breaks with some traditional usage.

The simplest thing should be to make sure the documentation mentions
this behavior.  But then, we all know that documentation is sometimes
the hardest thing to do.  :)

Winfred