[wplug] Debian boot messages -- where at??

[Chester R. Hosey]

> Now -- I tried that and also looked at /var/log/dmesg, which I think is 
> the same thing -- I realized that the error message I was seeing was a 
> result of one of the init scripts, and not, strictly speaking, the boot 
> process.  Is that output trapped anywhere?
> 
> -Brandon

There doesn't seem to be a logging facility in place for Debian's init
scripts. RHEL uses a program called initlog in its startup scripts to
log to the local7 facility, which is trapped by syslog and dumped
to /var/log/boot.log, but Debian's scripts are free of any such
functionality.

You have several choices, in increasing order of the amount of work
required to implement:

0) Ignore it.

1) Use Shift+PgUp/Shift+PgDn to review messages which have scrolled off
of the screen.

2) Use Control-S during startup to pause the display of messages
scrolling past. Control-S pauses, Control-Q resumes.

3) Modify sysvinit to log to syslog.

4) Modify all scripts in /etc/init.d/ to execute logger any time output
is displayed.

5) Switch distributions over a simple problem.

6) Find a Debian mailing list and suggest a change in startup script
logging policy. Endure ensuing flamewar involving the cost of starting
another process from each and every startup script, especially on older
hardware and somebody's ARM-based toaster. Note sub-flamewar discussing
other utilities which depend on Perl. Note sub-flamewar discussing the
fact that logger is licensed under the old BSD license which still
contains the advertising clause. Appreciate the observation that nobody
is subdued by the fact that Debian doesn't seem to advertise anyway.
After the flames die down, set aside about six months to convince the
project to vote on the proposed change. Once an agreement to vote has
been reached, endure additional longwinded discussion of voting methods,
especially the chicken-and-egg problem of how to vote on vote-counting
methods when you haven't chosen a method of counting votes.


I'm a long-term Debian user, and I do appreciate the stance on certain
issues. I do think that leadership with slightly more backbone would
help at times, however, since often politics get in the way of progress.
That aside, Debian still rocks.

Chet