rsync --daemon complains parsing nonexistant /etc/rsyncd.conf

[Colton Lewis]

This is on a system where /etc/rsyncd.conf does not exist and goes away if /etc/rsyncd.conf is an empty file.

Version: rsync  version 3.2.5  protocol version 31
Command: rsync --daemon
What happens: The program outputs "Failed to parse config file: /etc/rsyncd.conf"
What I expect: The program should run with the same default values it does when /etc/rsyncd.conf is an empty file.
Bonus: The install process installs an example file at /etc/rsyncd.conf with the intended defaults and documented with comments.

If there are security concerns enough to require creating a config file before enabling,
the error message should explicitly say that. The current behavior is probably known and not a large concern, but it
is still an annoying usability shock for such a mature piece of software.


-- Colton Lewis