A Script Making It Easier Turning A FreeBSD Install Into A Working Desktop

[GI_Jack]

Well, you could learn a lot from the simplicity Idea, but with mega/hyper strange projects like systemd, you can forget..
To learn a lot in Unix, you need very qualified people working with them,every day..
This machines are a lot less than x86 ones, which means that only a few touch them..

But the reality is that majority of people that comes to Linux and tries to develop something ...this people came from Windows and are completely off the Unix simplicity and Ideals..

In production with large companies. The vast bulk of systems are linux. Redhat seems to be popular for general purpose. SUSE dirrectly supports SAP, so SAP on SLES is very common.

AIX, the big tuna, is widely in use. If you thought systemd was complicated or hard, you've never used AIX. Its a very powerful system, but its not easy to understand the slightest, and very hard. People have and made careers out of simply reading snaps.

The advantages of Linux and GNU is its human readable UNIX. things like /proc and /sys are human readable. gnu --options make it easier to understand. config files are consolidated in /etc/, and often well commented. bash shell with tab completion. It also scales well in both directions. You can run linux on everything from embedded, to super computers and everything in between.

AIX? Support is phenomenal. Its natively virtualized, so AIX is the software stack from top to bottom. AIX hypervisor, AIX guests, AIX kernel, AIX userland. The hardware is supported by IBM, and the processors IBM Power. IBM sells and supports the entire stack kit and kaboodle. When it breaks, and you can't figure it out. Call IBM, ftp them a snap and they take care of it. HD fails? The hard disk itself phones home, and its replaced within 6 hours by an IBM technician.

Now, does Oracle DB run just as well on Linux x86 as it does AIX power? Yeah, it does. Does it have nearly the same level of support? No. Not even close. Even if Redhat does try their hardest to be the IBM of Linux x86.

[tuxd3v]

AIX, the big tuna, is widely in use. If you thought systemd was complicated or hard, you've never used AIX. Its a very powerful system, but its not easy to understand the slightest, and very hard. People have and made careers out of simply reading snaps.

I think systemd is over-complicated, in comparison..
AIX is different in a lot of aspects, starting by the centralised idea of the ODM database( I have mix feelings about it.. ), intrinsic logical volume management, and so on..good memory management..

some time ago,
I was puzzled by a conference were the S6 init system creator said that 'almost no one uses /etc/inittab..'
I work with AIX servers..
And yes we do use '/etc/inittab' all the time.. it's a requisite!

In AIX you can also analyse core dumps, to check what was wrong, or simply check the system errors report..
each time you solve a problem, you need to clean it by hand...( the amount of failure is equal to yours..since you are the one in control.. ).

To work with AIX you need to have a UNIX mentality and like simplicity/good taste( sometimes you also find complexity, its not all roses, but its solid.. )..
The problem with a lot of people,
Is that their reality is the MS Windows world were they have been experimenting with, and from a Unix perspective, they have a tremendous lack of good taste( ..this 2 worlds are very different.. ).
Windows do a lot of workflows completely on contrary of AIX or even Linux, and so its also difficult to define a strategy when you don't know more about something..

So is UNIX difficult?
Depends on what you are comparing yourself with..
If a MS Windows user makes it transition to Linux, and you give him a AIX system...it will be very painful, and difficult to understand since what he knows is Windows, he doesn't even understand Linux..
How will he understand AIX, or embrace the Unix ideals..?
To this user( MS Windows user mentality ), systemd seems a nice thing..
To a user that embraced Unix Ideals long ago, systemd is outside scope..It will work against him..

Linux won a lot of market share..
Even IBM acknowledge that( Linux support for Power8/9, RedHat been a IBM asset..etc ),
So I don't know what will happen to AIX, in the future( you can say the same about MS Windows server.. ).

If you give me Linux or Aix to choose, to run a big Oracle database, and only to choose based on performance, off-course I will chose Aix..

without the intention to start any Ideological war,
But in simplicity/good taste,
I regret to say, that AIX or bsd's world seems more sane than the "today's Linux" one..
With Linux systems acquiring so many bloatware,
I believe that bsd's are starting to become more interesting, and its threshold to the data center is each time smaller and smaller..

[GI_Jack]

I think systemd is over-complicated, in comparison..
AIX is different in a lot of aspects, starting by the centralised idea of the ODM database( I have mix feelings about it.. ), intrinsic logical volume management, and so on..good memory management..

some time ago,
I was puzzled by a conference were the S6 init system creator said that 'almost no one uses /etc/inittab..'
I work with AIX servers..
And yes we do use '/etc/inittab' all the time.. it's a requisite!

Are you really trying to tell me that lsrsrc, lssrc, startsrc, and stopsrc are easier to use or less esoteric than systemctl? WHAT?

Then its sometimes used /etc/rc.d subdirectories? Then errpt? Then what is UNIX like about smitty?

While I certainly do admire AIX along many fronts, especially its robustness, it is certainly nowhere near as easy to use as GNU or Linux. It's init system is far more confusing the systemd.

[tuxd3v]

Are you really trying to tell me that lsrsrc, lssrc, startsrc, and stopsrc are easier to use or less esoteric than systemctl? WHAT?

Then its sometimes used /etc/rc.d subdirectories? Then errpt? Then what is UNIX like about smitty?

While I certainly do admire AIX along many fronts, especially its robustness, it is certainly nowhere near as easy to use as GNU or Linux. It's init system is far more confusing the systemd.

Linux use lots of files for configuration in '/etc'..
Aix, one of the bigger differences.. the ODM database..
Because of that,
You have the situation that you are talking about, a SysVinit system( which is very simple, easy ), but with a database( a single point of failure.. ) were you can define services, weird ..
IF it gets corrupted, its a pita to have the system up and running..

The services..
It depends what you want, if you want to start a service on boot, you can just use the good old model, and for example use the inittab to spawn or respawn it for example.. its a lot easier than systemd.
Almost every time the ODM database is in the mix, it turns things more difficult to configure( for a user that is not AIX Native.. )..

define a service ( using the odm database, ie: sshd ):

mkssys -p /usr/sbin/sshd -s sshd -u 0 -a "-D -f /etc/ssh/sshd_config" -e /dev/console -i /dev/console -o /dev/console -R -Q -S -f 9 -n 15 -E 20 -G ssh -d -w 20

check if it exists is smitty like output format:

lssrc -S -s sshd

check again querying the odm database( lower level check.. ):

odmget -q subsysname=sshd SRCsubsys

start service:

startsrc -s sshd

restart service:

stopsrc -s sshd;startsrc -s sshd

You can list services like you do with smitty.. for example by subsystem 'inetd' with 'lssrc -ls inetd'
The start and stop for services is easy,
The creation of the service, seems more difficult,
But if you compare to a systemd service file, ...its only a line, issued in the shell prompt..easy

Then you have deamons.. I just use the good old inittab for that with services in '/etc/rc.d'

Also the command options for Unix programs,
Usually have less features by tool( in line with the UNIX philosophy )

ksh, has some limitations in versions prior to ksh93( in 64 bits IBM power systems.. ),
An example, a variable holding a integer, is limited to 32 bits signed integer, which means a positive limit of [ ( 2^32 / 2 ) -1 ], instead of [ ( 2^64 / 2 ) -1 ], yeah..

The bigger differences, are related with the fact that it uses a database( odm database ) to store and control the system.. and GNU/Linux, chooses several files across /etc, to configure the system..
Apart from that,
It does have lots of specialisation in a lot of areas, wel..l its more difficult

But in return you get a more optimised system, using less resources, a very good file system jfs2, storage managment top notch, load balancing, and so on, everything top notch( you had payed for it.. )

[aht0]

I'll give you third alternative for service management. IMHO far simpler and user-friendlier than your praised systemd.

service stop/start/restart/status - service related commands

define service you'd like to run
servicename_enable="YES" in /etc/rc.conf
servicename_args="some flags/conf options" in /etc/rc.conf

Example service script (which is software-porter's problem, not user's. User has no need to go anywhere further from /etc/rc.conf)

#
# Add the following lines to /etc/rc.conf to enable the D-BUS messaging system:
#
# dbus_enable="YES"
#

. /etc/rc.subr

: ${dbus_enable=${gnome_enable-NO}} ${dbus_flags="--system"}

name=dbus
rcvar=dbus_enable

command="/usr/local/bin/dbus-daemon"
pidfile="/var/run/dbus/pid"

start_precmd="dbus_prestart"
stop_postcmd="dbus_poststop"

dbus_prestart()
{
/usr/local/bin/dbus-uuidgen --ensure
mkdir -p /var/run/dbus
}

dbus_poststop()
{
rm -f $pidfile
# The following two lines may be removed after 2018-01-01
rm -f /var/db/dbus/machine-id
[ ! -d /var/db/dbus ] || rmdir /var/db/dbus
}

load_rc_config ${name}
run_rc_command "$1"

[GI_Jack]

define a service ( using the odm database, ie: sshd ):

mkssys -p /usr/sbin/sshd -s sshd -u 0 -a "-D -f /etc/ssh/sshd_config" -e /dev/console -i /dev/console -o /dev/console -R -Q -S -f 9 -n 15 -E 20 -G ssh -d -w 20

Well, here I am thinking it was complicated. Good thing that's super simple as, lets say something hard like an ini like 15 line key=value file where everything is in plain english.

[tuxd3v]

Well, here I am thinking it was complicated. Good thing that's super simple as, lets say something hard like an ini like 15 line key=value file where everything is in plain english.

In service management, I believe is a lot simpler..
It could be more complex, in networking/storage areas( but in AIX you also have a ton of possibilities.. ).
AIX is good, but it costs you both eyes, and maybe both kidneys, that is why Linux become so popular( not only, Linux has the big advantage of been open )..
But when you look into it, you see Linux using lots and lots of memory Ram, is heavier, and so on..
Nowadays Intel, Samsung, Allwinner( yeah it brought Micron ), sell Ram memory, and Intel also develops a lot for Linux( so its memory problems, never get fixed..its business.. ).