[Bug 280941] The reboot command considered harmful

https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=280941

bugs.freebsd.org@aljoscha.vollmerhaus.net changed:

           What    |Removed                     |Added
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                 CC|                            |bugs.freebsd.org@aljoscha.v
                   |                            |ollmerhaus.net

--- Comment #2 from bugs.freebsd.org@aljoscha.vollmerhaus.net ---
I'd like to add my experience here, as I was the reason for that discussion on
the IRC channel.

While trying to write an rc script for a program of mine, I spent hours trying
to figure out why my shutdown procedure didn't work.
Only after lengthy debugging, and with help from the kind folks on #freebsd,
was I able to determine that the problem wasn't with my rc script but rather
with the fact that I had been using "reboot" instead of "shutdown -r now."

Although it was quickly pointed out that the behavior of "reboot" is clearly
documented, I had no indication that I should even look at the docs for
"reboot".
Coming from a Linux background, I was under the assumption it would simply
reboot the machine.
And reboot it did, so nothing gave me any hint that I was doing something
wrong.
I had been restarting my FreeBSD machines using "reboot" for years at that
point.
This led me on a wild goose chase for a fault in my script that didn't exist.

I was made aware that the meaning of "reboot" as "skip proper procedures" is a
very old default and that changing this established behavior could disrupt old
scripts and ingrained habits.
However, at the very least, I believe a hint - such as printing something like
"emergency reboot, skipping proper shutdown!" to stdout or stderr - should be
added to the "reboot" command.

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