Re: conf-file recovery after manual removal of a package

[Bill Mitchell <mitchell@mdd.comm.mot.com>]

On Fri, 4 Aug 1995, Ian Jackson wrote:

> Bruce Perens writes ("conf-file recovery after manual removal of a package"):
> > This is a user-friendliness issue: Say I manually remove a package's
> > conf-files
> >[dpkg doesn't reinstall the removed files when reinstalling the pkg]
> > Perhaps it should not be silent about this case?
> Yes, I think you're right.  How about if I have it print
>  Package's version of `/etc/init.d/halt' has not changed, skipping.
> every time it decides, without prompting, not to install a conffile
> that the user has edited ?

Would dpkg reinstall the removed conffiles if the user is installing
an upgraded package version?  If so, I think it'll be confusing to
users to have dpkg behave so differently depending in what version
of the package the user is installing.

In any case, perhaps it'd be friendlier to have dpkg consider a
missing conffile a change whenever reinstalling a package, and prompt
something like

  config file /etc/init.d/halt not present, install from package?

That'd avoid informing that dpkg had not installed a desired config
file which had been removed, and leaving them wondering how to get
it back.  It'd be at the cost of an extra prompt in the case where
the user had intentionally removed the file and wanted it to stay
gone.