BerkeleyDB and config files

[Michael A. Peters]

I'd like to suggest a change to the way Fedora Core does some things.
I'm not talking about "standard" linux config files like /etc/passwd or / 
etc/group or /etc/fstab (though the latter would be nice) - I'm talking  
about Fedora (and RH I suppose since Fedora has become a RH test bed)  
specific configuration files, such as /etc/security/console.perms and / 
etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-[iface] type stuff.

Rather than store them in flat files, which have different  
configuration parameters depending upon the file etc., use (maybe  
optionally) BerkeleyDB.

bdb is already needed for the rpm database, so a Fedora system will  
have bdb installed.

Both Python and Perl (as well as many other languages) already have  
good bdb interfaces, and both Python and Perl also have gtk+ bindings  
too.

If an embedded database was available for storing the configuration  
information, it would be simpler for packagers to script additions to  
those files, if necessary - IE the rpm for TiLP (software for talking  
to a Ti graphing calculator) could easily add (if needed) a <ticalc>  
class to console.perms with the necessary device node entries, and then  
add the needed permission definitions for the device class.

It also would allow gui administration for some configuration nodes for  
which there is not a gui. Kind of like how I can change some things in  
gnome using gconf-editor for which there isn't an existing control  
panel ready made for the task.

It also would make it easier for network administrators who set up box  
after box with needs to customize some of the default configurations to  
do so - after the install, a single documented script makes the needed  
entries/changes to the database and it's done.