[ILUG] Opposite of Cat >>

[Brian Foster]

  | Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2002 08:48:31 -0500
  | From: Stephen_Reilly at dell.com
  | 
  | Why not have a backup of all modified files. Then for uninstall overwrite
  | with original.

 you're on the right track for a correct solution (IMHO), but
 unfortunately, the suggestion "doesn't work":  other changes
 (that you wish to keep) may have been made in the interim ....

 what I do is use RCS:  my static configuration files are kept
 under RCS control, which means I not only have a full history
 of changes (and hence can backout-and-remerge as the original
 problem/question required), and the file itself is readonly
 (which is Very Good, IMHO).

 CAUTION!  this approach is for (wanna-be-)experts/masochists only!
       installation/un-installation tools tend not to expect things
       to be readonly (and far too often then do the wrong thing);
       the  RCS/  directories which litter the filesystem not only
       need to be backed-up, but are sometimes mis-interpreted as
       being "configuration files" (and can be a security hole);
       and on and on ....

 and what I suggest S/W developers do is junk the monolithic
 configuration file (and flat-directory) approach.  design so
 files, not lines/blocks-within-files, are the atomic units
 which are added/modified/deleted.

cheers!
	-blf-
--
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