xinetd is a powerful replacement for inetd.
xinetd has access control mechanisms, extensive logging capabilities,
the ability to make services available based on time, and can place
limits on the number of servers that can be started, among other things.

There are a number of differences between xinetd and inetd.  The 
largest difference to the end user is the config file.  xinetd's 
config file format is more C like, and somewhat similar to bind 8's.

There are a couple of compile time options to xinetd.  

--with-libwrap  : This option to the configure script tells xinetd
to compile in support for tcp wrappers.  You must already have libwrap
installed on your system.  This option will have xinetd pay attention
to your /etc/hosts.{allow|deny} files.  With this option turned on,
xinetd will first look at your /etc/hosts.{allow|deny} files, then
if access is granted, it goes through xinetd's internal access control
mechanisms.

--with-loadavg  : This option to the configure script tells xinetd
to compile in support for the max_load configuration option.  This
option allows you to have certain services disabled when the system
load gets above a specified level.  This is highly operating system
specific.  It currently has been tested on linux, and there is
developmental support for solaris 2.6 and higher.

I will continue to keep itox in the distribution, and fix any bugs or
compatibility issues that come to my attention, but I probably won't
get around to adding features.  If someone else would like to pick this
up, let me know and I'd be happy to incorporate changes.
I have made a quick perl script (xconv.pl) to replace itox.  xconv.pl
does a straight translation of inetd.conf file syntax to xinetd.conf.
It handles tcpd correctly, warns on the use of rpc services, 
sets the REUSE flag, and handles groups properly if your inetd.conf file 
supports them.

xinetd was originally written by panos@cs.colorado.edu.  At least one other
version of xinetd has been seen floating around the net.  This version is
being maintained by Rob Braun (bbraun@synack.net) and bug reports for this
version should be directed there.

Known bug: There is a known bug with the banner directives.  If you are
using a banner name(including path) that is 28 or 29 characters long,
the directive will not work properly.  It works fine if the banner name
is less than 28.

Bug reports/comments/suggestions/flames for this version should be sent
to bbraun@synack.net
