[pkg-discuss] IPS and package scripts

[Jordan Brown (Sun)]

I'm trying to understand the IPS plan for replacing package scripts.

I just read Stephen Hahn's blog article from September 2007.  Feel free 
to point me at more recent materials.

I understand how the you can eliminate scripting in the limited case of 
initial install:  "built-in" support for those configuration items that 
are required for first boot, plus boot-time scripting.

(Side note:  Since it appears that you'll be encouraging first-boot 
scripting, I suggest that you define a standard way to get a "run once 
on first boot" script.)

What I don't understand is how this answers problems associated with 
installing software once the system is up and running.  Suppose that one 
is installing a new application that is intended to be used as a browser 
or e-mail helper, and so need to add entries to /etc/mailcap.  How would 
you get those entries added?  Of course, the same question applies to 
any other plug-in mechanism:  users, groups, RBAC, drivers, web server 
config, cron, et cetera.  Rebooting the system should not be necessary 
after such an installation, so how does custom scripting get executed? 
(Or, if there's no custom scripting, how does the configuration get done?)

Ideally, applications should be designed for scripting-free 
configuration.  For instance, mailcap might not be a single file; it 
might be dynamically constructed by scanning a directory full of 
individually delivered files.  However, we have a legacy of 
packaging-hostile infrastructures that we must deal with, and a 
significant re-education project to get application designers to stop 
creating more such problems.

Thanks.