GNU bug report logs - #33787
Policy Change: Use of /etc/gnu.conf files to configure default system behavior

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Message #20 received at 33787 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: L A Walsh <coreutils <at> tlinx.org>
To: Assaf Gordon <assafgordon <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 33787 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
Subject: Re: bug#33787: Policy Change: Use of /etc/gnu.conf files to configure
 default system behavior
Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2018 16:36:21 -0800

The below methods cannot alter or fix  the problems that require
a configuration file.

Example: have 'rm -fr .' do a depth first removal and not 
pre-inspect any argument before its children.

Whether or not to expand tabs in output so that output to
a terminal that doesn't have tabstops every 8 characters will 
line up.

I could go on, but those cannot be handled with a simple alias.




> The common and recommended way to add default command-line arguments
> is to use aliases (e.g. "alias rm='rm -i'").
> 
> If used in $HOME/.profile - it will affect your interactive use.
> If used in /etc/profile (or similar) - it will affect all users in your
> system.
> 
> That method already works in almost every Unix system - without adding
> additional code and complexities of a global configuration file.

> Given the above, I'm closing this as "wontfix".
> Discussion can continue by replying to this thread.

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