Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!super!udel!princeton!njin!rutgers!cmcl2!nrl-cmf!ames!pacbell!att!ihlpf!mroth
From: mroth@ihlpf.ATT.COM (Roth)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech
Subject: Re: Amiga Roadblocks to User Friendliness
Message-ID: <6926@ihlpf.ATT.COM>
Date: 12 Dec 88 22:16:13 GMT
References: <8812100429.AA08669@postgres.Berkeley.EDU>
Reply-To: mroth@ihlpf.UUCP (55314-Roth,M.J.)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories - Naperville, Illinois
Lines: 45

In article <8812100429.AA08669@postgres.Berkeley.EDU> dillon@POSTGRES.BERKELEY.EDU (Matt Dillon) writes:
>
>:>2. chase startup script chains looking for something typical and adding
>:>in the commands automatically after ultra-warning operator?
>:
>I write:
>:	Not possible.  For example, my s:startup-sequence on my HD
>:executes another startup-sequence conditionaly and then starts a shell
>:which does most of the system init.  It is not possible to write an
>
>	Well, I should amend that.  If there were yet another standard
>script file for assigns then it would be extremely easy to write an
>install program for it.  So if all the companies got together, or
>commodore specified a specific file name (s:startup-assigns ?) that will
>be executed and that contained *nothing* except assign commands, then
>the user need only stick an 'execute s:startup-assigns' in the 
>appropriate place in his startup sequence.
>
>				-Matt


There are problems with the approach of a special 'ASSIGNS' file upon
bootup.  When does the system perform the assigns?  If it is done before
the startup-sequence then assigns will fail to devices which have not
been mounted yet.  If it is done after, then no assigns will be done
if the user sets up a turnkey system (less of a problem).

My harddisk has four partitions.  I do assigns to directories in the
different partitions.  I could have a startup-sequence which queries
which partitions I wish to mount at startup time (Since mounting devices
eats up valuable memory).

These are just problems I have thought of off the top of my head.  There
may well be more.  For the novice user they may not exist at all.  For
the semi-novice user, they could cause much grief.

I think the solution is to have a special 'config' file for packages
which could exist in the S: directory or a new CONFIG: directory.
That way each package can do what is needed when it is fired up, including
things other than just assigns.  This would be much more flexible for both
the package developer and the operating system.

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Mike Roth  -  ihnp4!ihlpf!mroth
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