Currently, if there is a syntax error in a hiveconf file, an exception is raised. This stops the application doing hiveconf.open_hive, which means that if the administrator made an error editing file X, applications that really only needs the information in file Y will cease to function as well. Not good. Also, it's against the current policy that applications in ThinLinc should run without hiveconf available (using internal default values). Need to think about how to solve this.