? .install.php.swp
? drushrc.php
? includes/.bootstrap.inc.swp
? includes/.common.inc.swp
? includes/.install.inc.swp
? sites/head.dev
? sites/default/files
Index: install.php
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/drupal/drupal/install.php,v
retrieving revision 1.190
diff -u -r1.190 install.php
--- install.php	30 Jul 2009 19:32:19 -0000	1.190
+++ install.php	30 Jul 2009 20:30:04 -0000
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@
     // This is important, as the installer calls into the Drupal system for
     // the clean URL checks, so we should maintain the cache properly.
     require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/includes/cache.inc';
-    $conf['cache_inc'] = 'includes/cache.inc';
+    variable_set('cache_inc', 'includes/cache.inc', 'runtime');
 
     // Initialize the database system. Note that the connection
     // won't be initialized until it is actually requested.
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@
     // system with a stubbed-out version that short-circuits the actual
     // caching process and avoids any errors.
     require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/includes/cache-install.inc';
-    $conf['cache_inc'] = 'includes/cache-install.inc';
+    variable_set('cache_inc', 'includes/cache-install.inc', 'runtime');
 
     $task = NULL;
 
Index: includes/bootstrap.inc
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/drupal/drupal/includes/bootstrap.inc,v
retrieving revision 1.292
diff -u -r1.292 bootstrap.inc
--- includes/bootstrap.inc	28 Jul 2009 12:13:46 -0000	1.292
+++ includes/bootstrap.inc	30 Jul 2009 20:30:06 -0000
@@ -588,6 +588,11 @@
     ini_set('session.cookie_domain', $cookie_domain);
   }
   session_name('SESS' . md5($session_name));
+
+
+  if (is_array($conf)) {
+    variable_set_realm('runtime', $conf);
+  }
 }
 
 /**
@@ -665,7 +670,9 @@
  * with variable_set() as well as those explicitly specified in the configuration
  * file.
  */
-function variable_initialize($conf = array()) {
+function variable_initialize() {
+  global $conf;
+
   // NOTE: caching the variables improves performance by 20% when serving cached pages.
   if ($cached = cache_get('variables', 'cache')) {
     $variables = $cached->data;
@@ -675,9 +682,7 @@
     cache_set('variables', $variables);
   }
 
-  foreach ($conf as $name => $value) {
-    $variables[$name] = $value;
-  }
+  variable_set_realm('database', $variables);
 
   return $variables;
 }
@@ -692,10 +697,25 @@
  * @return
  *   The value of the variable.
  */
-function variable_get($name, $default = NULL) {
-  global $conf;
+function variable_get($name, $default = NULL, $realm = null) {
+  $cache = &drupal_static('variable_cache', array());
+  if (is_null($realm)) {
+    if (isset($cache['runtime'][$name])) {
+      return $cache['runtime'][$name];
+    }
+    elseif (isset($cache['database'][$name])) {
+      return $cache['database'][$name];
+    }
+    elseif (isset($cache['defaults'][$name])) {
+      return $cache['defaults'][$name];
+    }
+  } else {
+    if (isset($cache[$realm][$name])) {
+      return $cache[$realm][$name];
+    }
+  }
 
-  return isset($conf[$name]) ? $conf[$name] : $default;
+  return $default;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -707,14 +727,26 @@
  *   The value to set. This can be any PHP data type; these functions take care
  *   of serialization as necessary.
  */
-function variable_set($name, $value) {
-  global $conf;
+function variable_set($name, $value, $realm = 'database') {
+
+  $cache = &drupal_static('variable_cache', array());
 
-  db_merge('variable')->key(array('name' => $name))->fields(array('value' => serialize($value)))->execute();
+  if ($realm == 'database') {
+    db_merge('variable')->key(array('name' => $name))->fields(array('value' => serialize($value)))->execute();
 
-  cache_clear_all('variables', 'cache');
+    cache_clear_all('variables', 'cache');
+  }
 
-  $conf[$name] = $value;
+  $cache[$realm][$name] = $value;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Populate a variable 'realm'
+ */
+function variable_set_realm($realm, $conf) {
+  $cache = &drupal_static('variable_cache', array());
+
+  $cache[$realm] = $conf;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -723,15 +755,17 @@
  * @param $name
  *   The name of the variable to undefine.
  */
-function variable_del($name) {
-  global $conf;
+function variable_del($name, $realm = 'database') {
+  $cache = &drupal_static('variable_cache');
 
-  db_delete('variable')
-    ->condition('name', $name)
-    ->execute();
-  cache_clear_all('variables', 'cache');
+  if ($realm == 'database') {
+    db_delete('variable')
+      ->condition('name', $name)
+      ->execute();
+    cache_clear_all('variables', 'cache');
+  }
 
-  unset($conf[$name]);
+  unset($cache[$realm][$name]);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -1434,7 +1468,7 @@
 
     case DRUPAL_BOOTSTRAP_VARIABLES:
       // Load variables from the database, but do not overwrite variables set in settings.php.
-      $conf = variable_initialize(isset($conf) ? $conf : array());
+      variable_initialize();
       break;
 
     case DRUPAL_BOOTSTRAP_LATE_PAGE_CACHE:
Index: includes/common.inc
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/drupal/drupal/includes/common.inc,v
retrieving revision 1.949
diff -u -r1.949 common.inc
--- includes/common.inc	30 Jul 2009 19:57:09 -0000	1.949
+++ includes/common.inc	30 Jul 2009 20:30:14 -0000
@@ -3488,11 +3488,16 @@
   module_load_all();
   // Make sure all stream wrappers are registered.
   file_get_stream_wrappers();
+
+  $defaults = module_invoke_all('variable_defaults');
+  variable_set_realm('defaults', $defaults);
+
   // Let all modules take action before menu system handles the request
   // We do not want this while running update.php.
   if (!defined('MAINTENANCE_MODE') || MAINTENANCE_MODE != 'update') {
     module_invoke_all('init');
   }
+
 }
 
 /**