Quoting Bruce Sass ([EMAIL PROTECTED]): > > What is the effective difference between telling someone to make sure > the Status field reads, "install ok installed", and telling them to make > sure the second field after the package name reads, "111". Sure, it is > less transparent, but the end result is the same and it can be placed in > a message for cut'n'pasting. I don't think a "code book" would be > necessary, a quick reference page perhaps, but not a book.
Quick reply - it's nerdish. More considered: It increases the irrelevant knowledge that has to be carried in order to fix things quickly and efficiently. A problem may no longer be spotted at a glance, except by people who immerse themselves in that sort of thing. A new layer of priesthood is added. > > I can also browse and search any disparate set of configuration files > > with standard tools like less and grep. > > Actually, grepping would be more productive because it would return more > information per line. e.g., (using a hypothetical encoded text DB) > $ grep pppconfig /var/lib/dpkg/status > $ pppconfig:2.0.5:111:90:999:2:5 > The trailing "2" and "5" represent "base" and "optional", the rest > should be decipherable from reading this message and doing > "dpkg -s pppconfig". That's the sort of response I might expect from someone not familiar with the A/B/C switches in grep. An alternative way of scanning would also be less with the -j command. Cheers, -- Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: +44 1908 653 739 Fax: +44 1908 655 151 Snail: David Wright, Earth Science Dept., Milton Keynes, England, MK7 6AA Disclaimer: These addresses are only for reaching me, and do not signify official stationery. Views expressed here are either my own or plagiarised.
