Re: problem with debconf and start-stop-daemon

[Wichert Akkerman <wichert@wiggy.net>]

Previously Henrique de Moraes Holschuh wrote:
> Please tell me one good reason not to use the init.d script interface to
> muck around with daemons _in maintainer scripts_?

The --exec option for start-stop-daemon. This option is very useful: it
gives start-stop-daemon the ability to verify that it is killing the
right process, and not another one with the same name or with the same
(recycled) pid. This is definitely the preferred way of using
start-stop-daemon.

The only problem with the --exec option is that it does not work if
you use it in the postinst after an upgrade to restart the daemon
since the binary has been replaced and will now have a different inode.

This gives you two options:
1. don't use --exec at all, not even in the init script.
2. don't use --exec in the postinst, or use it with a saved (hardlinked)
   copy of the original file

Option 1 means we loose the advantage of being sure we are killing the
right process. Option 2 is obviously better in that it does not have
that problem at all of you use a saved copy, or only during upgrades
if you only don't use --exec in the maintainer script.

Wichert.

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