Graphical etc-update

[BradB]

OK, until recently I was very, very slack at keeping my /etc files up todate - mainly because I didn't know about

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etc-update

I started using etc-update, but found the console diffs hard to follow. A bit of scrounging around found the file

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/etc/etc-update.conf

If you take a look at it you'll find there are some provisions for changing the commands for diff and merge, there are event lines you can uncomment to enable vim diffing.

I'm not all that great with vim, so I thought I'd try to use a graphical diff - namely gtkdiff.
You'll need to emerge it

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emerge gtkdiff

I think xxdiff would probably do, but I haven't had more than a cursory look - so I won't comment.

The first change is the line

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pager="less"

it needs to go to

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#pager="less"
pager=""

Then you need to change the diff_command, mine looks like

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diff_command="gtkdiff -g 1600x1000 %file1 %file2"

I like to use my whole resolution for width, so I specify the geometry with

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 -g 1600x1000 

Change these values so gtkdiff looks nice on the screen.

For the merge command I have

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merge_command="gtkdiff -g 1600x1000 -o %merged %orig %new"

The merge command displays 3 panes, with the merged pane displayed in the top half - the program is simple to control so I won't go over it. The only gotcha is that after you are happy with the merge, you must save the merged file - simply right-click on the top pane and select output file.

This works fine for me - my only problem is that gtkdiff will display 3 panes after it has been used in merge mode, even when it is in diff mode. If anybody knows how to force 2 panes only in diff mode (via commandline, not via the GUI) please let me know.

If I get motivated enough I may trawl through the code & add options to force 2 pane and auto-save.

Oh, if you're like me & su to root from a console, you will probably need to run

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 xhost +

with your regular user. There are security issues here I'd expect, but I don't know about them - help here would be good.

Any feedback would be great.

Cheers
Brad

[DArtagnan]

going to try it

[cvk]

Looks good, thank you.

cvk

[elzbal]

Oh, if you're like me & su to root from a console, you will probably need to run

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 xhost +

with your regular user. There are security issues here I'd expect, but I don't know about them - help here would be good.

One issue is that remote users can throw up their own windows on your box or (I think) randomly change your X settings. It would be better to use

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xhost +machinename
i.e.
xhost +bigbox

so that only people logged in to your box can connect to it.

Thanks for the tip! That's what makes this forum so great!

[pjp]

It would be better to use

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xhost +machinename
i.e.
xhost +bigbox

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xhost +localhost

Also works.

[steelrose]

BradB:i like your idea a lot so i followed your instructions.when i run etc-update i get the output in no-gui.when i run gtkdiff i get nothing.how do i run this?

[woodm]

Hey, is there a good package to install/reinstall to test out the new merging?

I don't want anything big or important.


This is a GREAT idea. And I'm really glad you published it. I happen to be deeply in love with vim, so I will go that way, but that doesn't detract from my thank you in anyway.

[BradB]

SteelRose - how do you mean you geet no output in gtkdiff? Does the app even start when you run it from the console? You need to modify the file /etc/etc-update.conf to tell etc-update to use gtkdiff

Woodm - I don't know, I hadn't updated for ages and had about 30 files that needed doing It's good motivation for finding a better way, thanks for the positive feedback.

Cheers
Brad

[Houdini]

Oh, if you're like me & su to root from a console, you will probably need to run

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 xhost +

with your regular user. There are security issues here I'd expect, but I don't know about them - help here would be good.

One issue is that remote users can throw up their own windows on your box or (I think) randomly change your X settings. It would be better to use

Code: Select all

xhost +machinename
i.e.
xhost +bigbox

so that only people logged in to your box can connect to it.

Thanks for the tip! That's what makes this forum so great!

Actually, the worry is that remote users can read your keypresses, doing things like grabbing passwords. A program to do such a thing is trivial to write.

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xhost +localhost

Is the right thing to do. (As KanusPlusPlus said)

[eyevee99]

gtkdiff corrupted my make.conf.

it's gone. How can I get the default one back?

Cheers
Ryan

[zojas]

a program called kompare was just pointed out to me. it lets you interactively (&graphically) merge the two files. now someone needs to figure out how to use it with etc-update. kompare is in kde-base/kdesdk

[ksclarke]

This is a GREAT idea... THANKS! The terminal etc-update has been my least favorite thing about Gentoo so far (though I like the concept of protecting them it's been a bit of a pain for some). Now I have nothing to complain about... just need to find something to test it out on. Suggestions anyone for a package to test it on?

Thanks, Kevin

[zojas]

another way would be to use gvim for the diff_command in /etc/etc-update.conf:

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diff_command="gvim -d %file1 %file2"

[TGL]

I would like to add a test to know if the commande has been launch from a linux console or from an X terminal, something like that:

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if [ i dont know what ] then gvimdiff %file1 %file2 ; else vimdiff %file1 %file2 

But I'm really hopeless at bashing... Any idea ?

[zojas]

well, etc-update.conf isn't a bash script. it's just sourced by the etc-update bash script. so you would need to hack that. I think you can only set variables in /etc/etc-update.conf.

but you should be able to just use gvimdiff. if it can't open your X display, it will fall back to vimdiff. Isn't there a note in the etc-update.conf file that says not to use vimdiff?

if it were a script though, here's the syntax you're looking for:

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if [ -n "$DISPLAY" ]; then
  gvimdiff %file1 %file2
else
  vimdiff %file1 %file2
fi

[tod]

Oh, if you're like me & su to root from a console, you will probably need to run

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 xhost +

with your regular user. There are security issues here I'd expect, but I don't know about them - help here would be good.

One issue is that remote users can throw up their own windows on your box or (I think) randomly change your X settings. It would be better to use

Code: Select all

xhost +machinename
i.e.
xhost +bigbox

so that only people logged in to your box can connect to it.

Thanks for the tip! That's what makes this forum so great!

A better way than xhost is detailed in the Remote X Apps Mini-Howto at http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Remote-X ... html#ss7.2

[rtn]

I would like to add a test to know if the commande has been launch from a linux console or from an X terminal, something like that:

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if [ i dont know what ] then gvimdiff %file1 %file2 ; else vimdiff %file1 %file2 

But I'm really hopeless at bashing... Any idea ?

You could check the output from `tty` and go from there. I use it in my
.bash_profile to find out if I'm on the first virtual console to automagically
fire up X for me. Just need to take this example one step further...

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if [ `tty` = "/dev/vc/1" ]; then
        echo ""
        echo "Starting X in 2 seconds (type Control-C to interrupt)"
        sleep 2
        echo ""
        startx > .Xoutput 2> .Xerrorlog
        clear           # get rid of annoying cursor rectangle
        logout          # logout after leaving windows system
fi

--rtn

[JoeGreensticks]

I just wanted to say that these types of ideas and discussions are why Gentoo is now my Linux of choice. This is a great tip that I used very successfully this morning with 25+ files.

[tecknojunky]

Thanks for this great tip.

I was a little at lost first, with gvimdiff, but this showed me all I needed to do.

As for controling file names and such, I simply import the diffs into the original file and save as is, overwriting the old one.

The dialog menu if kind of nice but it's only half done. Not much gain from it, but it will be nice when they complete it.

[krogoth]

Zojas:

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kompare file1 file2

btw, anyone who hasn't tried kompare should - I really like the way it displays changes.

[Xenarion]

what is diff?

[zojas]

if you run konqueror, try this:

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man:diff

or

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info:diff

or on the command line:

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man diff

that describes it much better than I could.

[Uranus]

screenshot anyone?

[zojas]

I have a screenshot of running gvimdiff through etc-update over ssh to my pentium II from my ibook in Mac OS X (it dual boots with gentoo I just happened to be running OS X when I took the screenshot)

http://www.desertsol.com/~kevin/screens ... update.jpg

[[UK]Superdude]

if you run konqueror, try this:

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man:diff

or

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info:diff

I never knew you could do that in konq.

I guess if you can learn something new each day its been a good day