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linux4noobs

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PlutoParty@programming.dev

Hot take: Linux should standardize on JSON or TOML for its config files (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml to c/linux4noobs@programming.dev

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One point of user-hostility you face when configuring Linux is all the config files in /etc. Be it crontab, fstab, or iptables, every project has its own ad-hoc config file format and as a rookie user you're left guessing what the rules for editing each one are. Must you separate entries with tabs or can it be spaces? Does the number of tabs matter? Does this file use # to comment or ;? Can you put a space after = or would that become part of the string? Some projects use their own half-baked implementation of .INI that breaks down the moment you try to escape a string. What's worse is that since it's background processes whose files you are editing, the response to a syntax error is nothing happening. The way to test whether you guessed the rules right is to wait and see 🤷

What I'm trying to say is that IMHO, the Linux Kernel and surrounding utilities should agree on a widespread, standardized config format and all migrate to it (prefarably sharing the same C library). The obvious option would be JSON, although it feels a little clunky and doesn't officially support comments. My preference would be TOML, since it's like INI which many projects kinda use already, but it's standardized and has native support for things like arrays (especially useful for fstab/crontab).

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[–] sloelk@piefed.social 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I see and feel what OP does. As a newbee to Linux (I guess, a lot in EU want to switch to Linux nowadays) it is really hard to learn which config file will how be used for which tool. As with the nature of Linux, that it has grown organically since years, plain text has been around since decades.

Are there any tools around to create config files easier? It is like programming without much knowledge and I guess a lot of "normal" users stick with Windows or Mac because of this.

[–] SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

As a newbee to Linux (I guess, a lot in EU want to switch to Linux nowadays) it is really hard to learn which config file will how be used for which tool.

Yep

Are there any tools around to create config files easier?

Hmm, I don't know what you mean by 'tools for creating config files'... If you don't want to have to type the syntax of config files manually then there are programs like DConf Editor, which in an ideal world all the system settings would fall under. But the files that I'm talking about are specifically those that haven't been moved to use DConf for whatever reason.

[–] sloelk@piefed.social 1 points 14 hours ago

ok, I look into DConf. maybe this helps.

But I get it, that the most projects because of no or not much income, can’t jump onto this to improve their tools. Whereas I think usability is a big big feature for most people. Mostly better a low feature set easy to use instead of a big feature set which are not much people can use.