Re: lintian and (non-)conffiles in /etc

[Itai Zukerman <zukerman@math-hat.com>]

>> N:   Files in /etc must be marked conffiles if they are included in a
>> N:   package. Otherwise they should be created by maintainer scripts.
>> N:   
>> N:   Refer to Policy Manual, section 11.7 for details.
>> 
>> This is a lintian error.
>
> If all files in /etc are user editable configuration files (which is
> implied by the definition of /etc), then it is pretty safe to imply that
> the all must be conffiles. Am I missing a case where a file in /etc
> belongs there by definition of /etc, and does not fit the case where it
> is user editable?

By "definition of /etc", I assume you mean this snippet from the FHS:

  /etc contains configuration files and directories that are specific
  to the current system.

So, my next question is, if

1.  all files in /etc are configuration files, and

2.  it really is policy that configuration files included in a package
    must be marked as conffiles (though I can't find that in the
    Policy Manual), and

3.  all configuration files must be in /etc (which is definitely in
    section 11.7), then

why do we even need conffiles?  Haven't I just defined a conffile as a
file in /etc included in a package?

-- 
Itai Zukerman  <http://www.math-hat.com/~zukerman/>