Re: Replace line in file based on pattern

["Paul M. Foster" <paulf@quillandmouse.com>]

On 1/2/22 11:03 PM, Greg Wooledge wrote:
> On Sun, Jan 02, 2022 at 09:59:08PM -0500, Paul M. Foster wrote:
> > Regarding "patch", let's consider a "stock" config file from a fresh install
> > (call it NEW), and an existing config which is tweaked for my purposes (call
> > it OLD). Assume I want the stock config altered to conform to my
> > existing/working installation.
>
> If you're reinstalling after a disk or system failure, you should be
> able to drop the config files from your backup onto the system, either
> before or after you install the software packages that use those files.

This is a fair point. In the case of a hardware failure, simply 
reinstalling working configs over the top of "stock" ones would work fine.

> The scenario you seem to be imagining involves reinstalling software
> packages and somehow ending up with a *different* version of the software
> than you had been running on the failed system.  This isn't going
> to happen if you were running Debian stable, and you reinstall Debian
> stable.
>
> The only way it would be a concern is if you're *not* running Debian
> stable, or if you reinstall with something other than Debian stable.
> In those cases, well, you're kinda on your own.

I am running stable. Where this situation arises is when I've been 
running for a couple of years and Debian changes to a new version (10 to 
11, for example). By that time, I have a lot of cruft on the machine, 
and I've just found it best to reinstall. And I've had it happen where a 
package changes its config, and I have to manually figure out what 
they've done, and how to compensate for it, to get back to a "working" 
(for me) state.

There are a lot of folks who like to "fiddle" with their systems 
constantly. I don't. So I'm not keen on having to manually fiddle with a 
lot of configs after an O/S version change.

Paul