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Ask HN: What is the best config file documentation you have seen?

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Ask HN: What is the best config file documentation you have seen?

#1

Post by caarlos0 »

I run a project called goreleaser, which is configurable via YAML.

Since it has a lot of options, it can get confusing. I do provide a JSONSchema and a documentation page, with all available options and some commented examples.

Still, I feel like it could be better - especially regarding informing in which version a given option was added, discoverability, etc.. I'm just not sure how to make it so.

That said, I wonder: what is the best software configuration documentation you have ever seen?

Re: Ask HN: What is the best config file documentation you have seen?

#2

Post by ksaj »

The config file for sendmail used to be really quite good. There were more lines of explanation than there were config items. There were numerous documented example lines describing several different, but common setups. There were explanations about why you may or may not want a particular line item. There was even a preliminary mailing list handler built into the config documentation, should you want to run such a thing. It was so well documented a beginner could edit it successfully, as long as they already knew how to get out of Vim.

This was quite a feat, considering most people only ever saw m4 language in sendmail configs. It's not very easy to read.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best config file documentation you have seen?

#3

Post by yrgulation »

FreeBSD’s config files spring to mind. Here is an example:

https://github.com/lattera/freebsd/blob/master/etc/defaults/...

Also relevant is this quote from john romero, id’s co-founder:

“Bulletproof your engine by providing defaults upon load failure.”

https://www.mcvuk.com/development-news/john-romeros-secrets-...

Re: Ask HN: What is the best config file documentation you have seen?

#6

Post by caarlos0 »

ksaj wrote: post #2

The config file for sendmail used to be really quite good. There were more lines of explanation than there were config items. There were numerous documented example lines describing several different, but common setups. There were explanations about why you may or may not want a particular line item. There was even a preliminary mailing list handler built into the config documentation, should you want to run such a t…

Oh, I’ll take a read! Thank you

Re: Ask HN: What is the best config file documentation you have seen?

#7

Post by caarlos0 »

yrgulation wrote: post #3

FreeBSD’s config files spring to mind. Here is an example: https://github.com/lattera/freebsd/blob/master/etc/defaults/... Also relevant is this quote from john romero, id’s co-founder: “Bulletproof your engine by providing defaults upon load failure.” https://www.mcvuk.com/development-news/john-romeros-secrets-...

That quote is quite good indeed! Thanks for sharing it and the example config.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best config file documentation you have seen?

#8

Post by llIIllIIllIIl »

php.ini

Seriously, that is usually the easiest configuration i had to deal with. Although there are hundreds of configurable options, each one is thoroughly documented in the same file.

Yaml config, although being better structured, rarely have any comments with explanation, and I’m still waiting to see one documented at 30% of php.ini.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best config file documentation you have seen?

#9

Post by tomcam »

Would you mind reaching out to the email address in my profile? I have some strong feelings about it and fancy myself a decent docs person. A couple of public things I've done are at https://tomcam.github.io/postgres/, https://vuepressbook.com, and https://tomcam.github.io/least-github-pages/. I have just begun using goreleaser a few days ago so I have a good perspective.
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