Re: compile-time configuration, etc.

Paul Jarc writes:
> If you want to re-unpack the tarball, save any changes you've made first.

No. The user has to be able to upgrade programs without destroying his
configuration. Otherwise upgrades turn into a horrible mess. (What did I
change in inetd.conf? What did I change in the boot scripts? What did I
change in the network configuration? Et cetera.)

The easy way to do the right thing is to have the user edit a separate
configuration package.

---D. J. Bernstein, Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics,
Statistics, and Computer Science, University of Illinois at Chicago