Re: design issues in debian packages
On 21 Dec 2001, Kjetil Torgrim Homme wrote:
> Adam Heath <doogie@debian.org> writes:
>
> > Scan for all files in *.d/. Ignore *.dpkg-new, *.rpm-save type files.
> > Ignore .* files.
> >
> > For each file found, if a .$file exists, and is executable, run it.
> > If .$file returns true, process the file. Otherwise, skip if.
> >
> > If no .$file is found, or is not executable, process the file.
>
> I'd prefer a non-executable file to mean "disable". This makes it
> possible to use 0 byte files only (execute bit means yes or no :),
> although packages should not use this trick.
But this won't work. The .$file has to exist in /etc, so it can be modified.
It also must be a conffile. Which means it will exist AFTER the package has
been removed, but not purged.
So, this means it must be an executable, that checks for a file that exists in
the package when it is installed.
> It's all very flexible and nice, but pretty complex and not very
> intuitive for the enduser. It might help a little to call .$file
> something more explicit like .disabled?.$file instead. (The question
> mark may be a bad idea, though.)
I don't find it at all complex.
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