Bug#914897: tech-ctte: Should debootstrap disable merged /usr by default? /usr by default
Control: retitle 914897 tech-ctte: Should debootstrap disable merged /usr by default?
I'm retitling the bug to avoid misrepresenting the technical committee's
position on this. We have been asked to overrule the debootstrap
maintainer, but we have not yet come to a conclusion on whether we should.
On Wed, 05 Dec 2018 at 13:25:36 +0900, Hideki Yamane wrote:
> Can we check and track this behavior in our packages?
Yes, we now do. The reproducible-builds infrastructure now uses unmerged
/usr for the first build and merged /usr for the second, since
<https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=901473> was fixed.
debootstrap since 1.0.111 also mitigates this class of bugs by disabling
merged /usr for --variant=buildd chroots (this was
<https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=914208>).
Julien Cristau thinks #914208 was a sufficient/proportionate change, and
doesn't want to go further and default to --no-merged-usr for non-buildd
chroots (and in particular new debian-installer installations).
Ian Jackson thinks #914208 is not a sufficient answer (Ian, I hope I'm
not misrepresenting you here?), and escalated this bug to the technical
committee, asking us to overrule the debootstrap maintainers.
If the debootstrap/debian-installer maintainers agree with Ian on this,
then there is no need for the technical committee to consider his request
to overrule you, which is why Didier asked for your opinion on this
issue before attempting to come to a decision. If you agree with Julien,
then the technical committee still needs to consider this question.
> Once disable merged-usr is good to prevent confusion but we detect such
> as a bug for manage non-merged-usr and merged-usr Debian system in the end,
> right? (or do you want to stay change in debootstrap 1.0.111 forever?)
The technical committee have not come to a conclusion on this.
My personal opinions (not overruling anyone):
If merged /usr becomes the only supported system layout at some future
time, then the change in debootstrap 1.0.111 can certainly be reverted
at that time. (If merged /usr does not become the only supported system
layout, this does not apply.)
It might also be considered appropriate to revert the change in
debootstrap 1.0.111 if data from reproducible-builds demonstrates that
bugs similar to #913226 have all been fixed or are very rare, but this
should be done cautiously, and certainly not before buster is released.
smcv
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