[Asterisk-Users] Re: Asterisk crashes my router!?

[Tom Ivar Helbekkmo]

Nick Bachmann <asterisk at not-real.org> writes:

> This was so funny that I had to share it:
> "m0n0wall is probably *the first UNIX system that has its boot-time 
> configuration done with PHP*, rather than the usual shell scripts, and 
> that has *the entire system configuration stored in XML format*."

OK, that statement looks insane.  My first reaction is "yup, when I
saw those stupid zeros in the name, I though that it was some idiot
"l33t k00l hax0r" project, better ignored, and this confirms it".

However, it's taken out of context: Monowall is *not* a UNIX system,
and the bit you quote is obviously tongue-in-cheek humor:

| m0n0wall is a project aimed at creating a complete, embedded
| firewall software package that, when used together with an embedded
| PC, provides all the important features of commercial firewall boxes
| (including ease of use) at a fraction of the price (free software).
| 
| m0n0wall is based on a bare-bones version of FreeBSD, along with a web
| server, PHP and a few other utilities. The entire system configuration
| is stored in one single XML text file to keep things transparent.
| 
| m0n0wall is probably the first UNIX system that has its boot-time
| configuration done with PHP, rather than the usual shell scripts,
| and that has the entire system configuration stored in XML format.

It's a firewall designed for embedded hardware, not a UNIX system.  It
just happens to have a FreeBSD kernel at its core.  That's something
else entirely.  In that context, the fact that the author has chosen
to use PHP to tie everything together, instead of /bin/sh, and that he
prefers XML for his configuration file format, is perfectly all right.

On the other hand, a *UNIX* system with its boot time configuration
done with PHP, and its entire system configuration stored as a single
XML file, would be something I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.

-tih
-- 
Tom Ivar Helbekkmo, Senior System Administrator, EUnet Norway Hosting
www.eunet.no  T +47-22092958 M +47-93013940 F +47-22092901 FWD 484145