[Wikitech-l] split LocalSettings.php into public and private parts

dn> suggest breaking LocalSettings into two parts I've always wanted a public part, say linked from Special:Version, "view public initialization settings", with a standard URL, title=Special:PublicLocalSettings perhaps, and all without needing to install an extension. And a private part, containing passwords, secret spam filters expressions etc. E.g., take your average hook. One can let users see its name on Special:Version, but to let users see its content... well one needs to do something like $ perl -nlwe 'print if /#START PUBLIC/../#END PUBLIC/' \ LocalSettings.php > PublicLocalSettings.txt often, and link to that. I.e., _you are not making being open source easy_. If one could easily see a wiki's public LocalSettings portion, one could quickly answer many messages here on this list "No wonder, Clodsworth, you have set $wgNorfblatz='maybe' which is an illegal value". And on http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Wiki_family#Ultimate_minimalist_soluti… I could provide an up to the minute link 'see the real settings behind that wiki', without needing to cut and paste, nor use the above perl solution.