[arch-general] On /etc/conf.d deprecation

[Dimitrios Apostolou]

Hello list,

from a reply I got to a bug report (FS#32817, reply is private) I found 
out that configuration files in /etc/conf.d are deprecated and that the 
supported way is to replicate and customize service files.

Imagine that in /usr unit file the daemon is being called as "binary -d". 
So I create the /etc unit file that supersedes it and calls it as "blah 
-d -n1". Then the package gets updated and the /usr unit file changes to 
"binary -d --lock=/whatever/path".

As you can see I won't get the update because I've overriden the unit 
file, I won't get any warning either, but if the original unit file called 
"binary -d --lock=/whatever/path $BLAH_ARGS" there would have been no 
such problem.

/etc/conf.d is a weaker but more elegant mechanism. I'm not saying it 
should replace unit files, but it should work *with* unit files, as the 
Arch way even if not in Freedesktop's - Fedora's recommendations. Of 
course anyone will still be free to copy and customize the unit file.

So I'm curious to know why this mechanism was deprecated? Is it speed we 
gain by not including the EnvironmentFile directive in the systemd unit 
file? Is there some other reason I might be missing?


Thanks in advance,
Dimitris