Re: how to make Debian less fragile (long and philosophical)
> > > Dynamic linking only breaks when there is something wrong. Building a
> > > distribution is a coordinated integration task, and when all of the
> > > pieces-parts aren't compatible for one reason or another problems like the
> > > recent bash failure show up...and then we fix it.
* Raul Miller said:
> > On the other hand, Debian's documentation on what to do when the
> > system goes south is rather limited.
On Mon, Aug 16, 1999 at 07:49:13PM +0200, Marek Habersack wrote:
> Well, it's one thing. Another thing is that the ways out available now, are
> too complicated for USERS - and they constitute the majority of audience,
> whether we like it or not.
Sure -- complex activities are hard to document.
> > there's no signficant cookbook of advice for dealing with common
> > situations, and we have no useful recommendations for headless
> > machines.]
> >
> > Maybe in my fabulous free time...
> Why not add the relevant boot option to the bootmanager and say in docs:
>
> "If the system doesn't boot, if the usual shell prompt doesn't appear do
> just that (assuming LILO is used):
>
> 1. on the LILO: prompt type "emergency" and tap ENTER
> 2. system boots with a limited set of utilities and an emergency shell
> which you can use to diagnose the problem and file a bug report or
> plea for help."
That's plausible -- provided there's also a ready reference on how to
perform each of these actions. [Doesn't have to be elaborate, in my
opinion, just orientation stuff... standard docs are all there, though
perhaps not looking very nice in a dumb text viewer, and we should presume
that anyone attempting to repair their system by hand (as opposed to
reinstalling debian overtop the existing system) has something of an
idea of what they're doing.]
--
Raul
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