Things Linux Can Do Without



IMNSHO: things that bug me to no end in Linux.


1. SU-DOn't.

Where did this "sudo" up the wha-zoo come from? Ex:

http://dreamlinuxforums.org/index.php/topic,939.0.html

....
sudo iwconfig wlan0 essid WLAN_XX
sudo iwconfig wlan0 mode managed
sudo iwconfig wlan0 key s:xxxxxxxxxxxxx
sudo /etc/init.d/networking start
....

Unix, and therefor Linux, has an administrative account. It's called
"root". You log into it when doing admin-type stuff. sudo is for assigning
specific users specifice tasks. I can even tolerate su'ing to root. But
not "sudo" at every damn command!!!! Shells with any kind of brain (Zsh)
contain protection from stuff like 'rm -rf *' already, built-in, so I
can't accept the argument of safety. I bet Ubuntu users wear out their
keyboards' "s", "u", "d", and "o" keys real fast.


2. /usr/local

It's ALL local. If not, then the convention should be "/usr/network". Or
"/usr/non-local", if the "local" system was booted and then network-wide
apps dumped on top of them to make a second layer. Now "/usr", that is
local. And "/" and all the rest that are part of the system. So what is
"/usr/local" being used for nowdays? People that are too scared or lack
the know-how to muck with /usr. Remove the old version if needed,
install into /usr and be done with it. How long is your PATH to hit all
those /usr/local/crap/bin directories? These same people post to mailing
lists wondering why xyz won't build: "But I have libbadidea installed!
It's in /usr/local/badidea, why it says 'not found'?"


3. rmmod, insmod

If I see any more tutorials or howto's advocating module abuse I'll
scream. When my grandmother was a little girl, they invented something
called 'modprobe' that was an intelligent wrapper around the primitives
for kmod insertion and removal. As modprobe(8) says: "modprobe
intelligently adds or removes a module from the Linux kernel" ... using
the two primitives loses all the extras gained from modprobe (the stuff
listed as features in the manpage). A curse be on anyone that touches
rmmod or insmod: may their typing fingers fall off.


4. ifconfig must die

Another one still being taught to new users when it needs to go the way of
the dinosaur.

http://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/Net:Iproute2

"Iproute2 is a collection of utilities for controlling TCP / IP networking
and traffic control in Linux." ... "Most network configuration manuals
still refer to ifconfig and route as the primary network configuration
tools, but ifconfig is known to behave inadequately in modern network
environments. They should be deprecated" ...


5. echo 0 > /proc/some/path/option

A very moldy-oldy way to do things. Impress chicks with your new-found
knowlege of 'sysctl'. Start here: sysctl(8)


6. /lib/tls

The first I saw this was in a Slackware document. I guess a way was needed
to muck up both 2.4 and 2.6 kernels in the same system, resulting in
a weird setup that contained both tls and non-tls libraries (because we
all know how frequently we all like to switch back and forth between 2.4
and 2.6 kernels ... just like we switch back and forth in our 8-tracks/CD
collection). 2.6 is a large improvement over 2.4, with NPTL and TLS. Why
on earth would you want to go back to it, much less in the same system on
an on-again, off-again basis? If you're (still) running a crusty old 2.4,
upgrade to 2.6 with tls, nptl and the whole shbang. Recompile the most
recent glibc and be done with it. Why keep around oldness? The "tls" and
non-tls stuff is bulky, confusing, and unneeded. It causes nothing but
problems. Why a few other distros picked up on this I'll never figure out.


7. Linux/Windows dual boot

A Linux user needs to keep around Windows like a snake needs a warm pair
of fuzzy mittens. And please don't post to a Linux group asking how to do
it either, because I'll be tempted to tell you instructions to blow up
your CPU. If you need Windows so much, fork over your $200 or whatever,
sell your sole to Bill Gates, and preceed directly to some
much-deserved R&R (reboot & reinstall ... over and over and over and
over ... ).

"How do I re-install Windows?" counts too. Ask the Microsoft
"help line" <*snicker*>, <*cough*>. Have fun with keeping up with malware
development, spyware, and adware. Pay almost $200 for an empty system,
aside from the oh-so-versitile "calc.exe" and "notepad.exe". Copy/paste
anywheres and tab completion are not to be found on this "techincally
advanced" super-system, neither. Who's in control of your computer today?
Is that just MicroBigBother snooping around your hard-disk (think MSRT
samples being sent to LEA's, CIPAV, MS's pledge to place their nose firmly
up the *** of your local cop, etc), which I'm sure you'll not mind, some
IRC bot, a hacker, or the mystery "Guest" user: "Windows can't shut down
because someone is logged on". Don't be dumbfounded when your homepage
locks to MSN either- it was PLANNED that way. Running Windows so you can
play games is not helping either: demand people write their apps in proper
cross-platform code (like Java) and there'd be no problem.


8. libtool

As if the care and feeding of shared libraries wasn't hard enough, along
comes libtool, or as I like to call it libidiot-stick. Now you'll 10
million ".la" files laying around, all that must be kept in their original
places or risk breaking the link step. You also get "libltdl.so" files
that stick around for ages: you'll end up needing to keep old versions
because some apps are chained to libltdl.so.1 from 10 years ago. You might
be tempted to start recompiling, but then realize there's, like, 1,342
apps you need to do.

Then there's the "libtool stool": the annoying habit of libtool to crap
out ".././../../usr/lib/.././/.//../../usr/lib/libwhatever.so" type links
in every binary it makes instead of simply "/usr/lib/libwhatever.so". This
leads to those super-annoying messages like:

libtool: blah blah blah seems to be moved!!
libtool: blah blah blah seems to be moved!!
libtool: blah blah blah seems to be moved!!
libtool: blah blah blah seems to be moved!!
libtool: blah blah blah seems to be moved!!

I started working around that by 'cp -f /usr/bin/libtool .' (using my own
system version that I ripped the ../../.././../usr/./lib/ crap out of) but
this worked only about 3/4 of the time. The rest of the time libtool came
back with something about:

"libtool: can not find my own arse, use TAG="

Other intesting messages:

"libtool: cannot find '' " (can't find nothing?!?)
"libtool: warning: relinking libstupid.la" (I don't care!)
"libtool: warning: finish with libtool --mode=finish"

Plus, it prods and pokes Java and Fortran too. When was the last time you
compiled a fortran program using libtool and gfortran?




There. I'm done. Now if everyone can change these 8 things, the world, at
least as far as the Linux world, will be a better place.


Quick Q&A:

Q: Why you wrote this?
A: There wasn't many new post in this NG

Q: You're stupid. You expect me or anyone to follow these?
A: Not really, but at least I feel better now it's out in the open ;)

Q: Does using Windows really cause brain damage?
A: Yes.



--
[** America, the police state **]
Whoooose! What's that noise? Why, it's US citizen's
rights, going down the toilet with Bush flushing.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/27/bush_nsa_internal/
http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2007/08/wiretap
http://www.hermes-press.com/police_state.htm
http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd%5B347%5D=x-347-559597

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