Hi!
Dave Shield writes:
Dave> The problem we'll have with using libSMI in the Net-SNMP suite, Dave> is that there's an existing base of "broken" MIBs out there from Dave> old UCD-SNMP installations. Dave> Sure, we'll plaster the new release with warnings about Dave> "you *MUST* install the new (fixed) MIB files" Dave> but you know as well as I do, that there are plenty of people who won't Dave> bother reading such warnings, and end up bombarding us with complaints Dave> that it doesn't work.
Are you talking about all modules including Standard MIB modules or just UCD-SNMP/NET-SNMP specific modules? I think, a libsmi-based NET-SNMP installation should get rid of all Standard modules and put the specific modules to /usr/local/share/mibs/site or to a new directory /usr/local/share/mibs/net-snmp and add this directory to the smi search path.
Dave> Long term, the right approach is definitely to eradicate the old Dave> broken MIB files completely. But it would be desirable (from our Dave> point of view at least) if we could handle this situation in some Dave> less drastic manner than simply exiting. Dave> Even if it's just the 'exit hook' mentioned in the comment in Dave> 'printError()' - so we could get the application to spit out the Dave> message about installing the fixed MIB files.
Unfortunately, the data structures can get really broken in these cases, so that you really should not just continue. It could be even more harmful. :-/
However, I agree: For a long time, I wish to have the possibility to get back to the state before starting to parse a broken MIB. But this is not easy to achieve.
Dave> There's no urgency about this yet, since the use of libSMI is Dave> still only within development code (and I think it's only me and Dave> Harrie that are looking at this). But I'm trying to think ahead Dave> (for once), and tackle user support problems before they bite us!
I suggest to send out a clear statement to people who expect that broken MIBs should be `somehow usable':
BROKEN MIBS ARE BROKEN! DON'T USE THEM! Get the current MIBs that come with the current NET-SNMP release. In case of your private MIBs, fix them! smilint helps you to do so. ;-)
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