On 19.03.2004 10:50 -0800, Mitch (WebCob) wrote:

> This modification would simply allow for a standard where files
> included in /etc/inc/ext are executed after boot up, and files in
> /usr/local/www/ext are available through a "modules" menu in the
> gui. Maintenance by plug in writers of a menu.inc.php may be
> required.

OK, I propose the following:

- a module consists of a directory in /etc/inc/ext (like
/ext/inc/ext/modulename), as well as /usr/local/www/ext for the GUI
part

- the boot scripts would simply walk through all the directories in
/etc/inc/ext and execute the file called "rc" in each one

- the webGUI would simply include (by means of a PHP include()) the
contents of /usr/local/www/ext/modulename/menu.inc of each module in
the navigation bar

That's it - I'm not planning on doing more than that. The rest is up
to the module writers.

I want to stress that there is NOT going to be a package management
system (e.g. no adding/removing packages via the GUI - wouldn't work
well with the current disk image format anyway) - people who want to
use modules *will* have to build new images, as this is only intended
as a solution for people who want exotic features that stand no
chance of being included in the official image. However, adding a
module to an image should merely consist of unpacking the original
image, adding the two directories (boot/GUI) and repacking it.

Also, there will be no modules repository/list on m0n0.ch -
officially, there will be no m0n0wall modules, period. I don't want
to see m0n0wall turning into a patchwork like at least one certain
other similar project.

And again, this is going to be totally and completely 100%
UNSUPPORTED. I will not answer any questions related to this module
"system" (I'll write a short how-to on how it works, but that will
have to do), and any private e-mails I get about it will be archived
in /dev/null.

> Manuel is happy with mono at this point, and can't see working to
> add a lot more features he doesn't need, so I think this will give
> us a way to take development of individual features special groups
> want off his plate.

I didn't imply I'm not going to do anything anymore - bpalogin and
VLAN support are in the works...

- Manuel