Re: we need more variation for conffiles
This problem really depends on the package, and it should be up to the
package to fix it or provide instructions, if necessary, probably in
the postinst.
For one example, bind changed it's directory structure, and the
maintainer decided that it was too complex to automate the change, so
the postinst points out what changed and lets the user decide.
For another, the change to OpenSSH changed some of the sshd_conf config
lines. I think the postinst should have warned me about the keys that
no longer work, but it's not critical.
For libc6, which had a typo in devpts.sh, I think there should be code
to detect and repair the bad {} bracket nesting, without damaging user
modifications, and being aware if the modification is just that the
user fixed the bad brackets themselves.
Eric
On Tue, 15 Feb 2000, Atsuhito Kohda wrote:
> >
> > But these cases are version dependent; a file that in version
> > 3.2 should not override the users changes, may need to override them
> > in version 3.2.1
>
> Yes of course. There should be some mechanism to treat these
> problems well. And there is a candidate for this mechanism as follows:
>
> From: "Tom Rothamel" <tom-11001@onegeek.org>
> Subject: Re: we need more variation for conffiles
> Date: 15 Feb 2000 00:40:20 -0000
>
> > Perhaps the way this could be implemented would be to have a seperate
> > file, conffiles.replace, with lines like:
> >
> > <file> <version>
> >
> > If the package install takes it through <version>, then dpkg will come
> > back with a message reccomending that the user take the new version,
> > perhaps with the opportunity to edit it before installing.
>
> I do not want to insist that my proposal is a good solution
> but only want that your attention is focused on this issue.
>
> Perhaps there are some developers who have thought that some
> more flexible mechanism for conffiles are necessary.
>
> I am not a programmer so I do not have (or even guess) the perfect
> solution but I hope that this will cause some progress in this
> issue.
>
> Thanks in advance, 2000.2.15
>
> --
> Debian JP Developer - much more I18N of Debian
> Atsuhito Kohda <kohda@pm.tokushima-u.ac.jp>
> Department of Math., Tokushima Univ.
>
>
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