On Mon, 13 Jun 2016 21:37:11 -0400, Steve Litt wrote: > On Mon, 13 Jun 2016 22:49:27 +0200 > Irrwahn <[email protected]> wrote: [...] >> I'm probably missing something important here, so I have >> to ask: What would be the point in replacing an easily >> comprehensible, self-contained and statically linked piece >> of code[1] by some script, howsoever simple, that relies >> on an (in comparison) gigantic and potentially buggy blob >> like a shell[2]? >> >> To me that's not exactly KISS. Does your mileage vary that >> much, or am I simply missing the point? > > > Hi Urban, > > I failed to make my point. Let me try again... > > The one and only point in replacing an easily comprehensible, > self-contained and statically linked piece of code by some script is > for the purposes of demonstration and propaganda. Nobody in > their right mind would permanently use a shellscript to PID1 a machine > used to do actual work.
That's what I hoped for, but you never know these days — we're living in strange times. There have reportedly been cases of people even trying to use systemd as the PID1 on machines used to do actual work. [...] > Right now, Felker's PID1 is the acknowledged "Hello World" PID1. But as > I remember you have to add an #include to get it to work with > mainstream Linuxes, Yup, #include <sys/wait.h>, trivial. > you have to get it to compile, and it's just not as > understandable to non-C programmers. > > Hackers who might not know C are more able to put their own commands > into the shellscript and see the result. There's a point to be made about the value of actually learning C and understand how the real thing works. There are far to few good C programmers around these days, and their number is dwindling. But that's another topic altogether. Note: I had to restrain myself from expanding even more on your catchy notes about the propagandistic value; the result probably wouldn't have been appropriate for this (or any other) list, I ponder. [...] > So Urban, once again, the reasons for a shellscript PID1 are: > > * Learning > * Demonstration and teaching > * Propaganda Thanks Steve, got it. I just failed to see that that was the only intent in your original comments. > For real systems doing real work, use a compiled PID1. Nah, real programmers write $cat | xxd -r - /sbin/init <SCNR> HAND, Regards Urban _______________________________________________ Dng mailing list [email protected] https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/dng
