etc-update and large config files

Andre · n00b Joined: 27 Apr 2002 Posts: 16 Location: Netherlands

Has anyone found a better (better as in more suitable) way to go through the changes of large config files than using etc-update ? For small files without too much comments etc-update works great. When trying to go through the changes of, say , a new php.ini I loose track, mostly because the changes in the comments are too numerous.

David_Escott · l33t Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 952 Location: Boston, MA

in the documentation tips and tricks there is a recomendation about how to make etc-update use vim's diff mode which might be a little easier

Andre · n00b Joined: 27 Apr 2002 Posts: 16 Location: Netherlands

Thanks for the tip. I did a search but obviously used the wrong keywords.

Here's the thread ( https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=29045 ) for people that follow this or stumble accross it. vim, gvim and kompare (part of kdesdk) are mentioned as replacements for the standard etc-update diff interface.

Just to be able to use vimdiff to view the difference was a great improvement. And of course you do not have to incorporate it in etc-update which, imho, functions fine for the smaller files. Just doing a

vimdiff /etc/php4/php4.ini /etc/php4.ini/._cfg0000_php.ini

gives you a nice scrollable view of the differences. vimdiff docs can be found here : http://www.polarhome.com/vim/manual/v61/diff.html