Policy wrt conf files
Looking at the Policy, specifically 11.7, suggests a strict idea of what
a configuration file is in /etc. This resolves around the idea that a
conf file is set up once by a package, and from then on either updated if
the user has made no changes or, if the user has changed the file, updates
to not overwrite the user changes.
What is not clear about this is :
(a) the policy states that the conf file can be overwritten by the postinst
file of a package if the user is asked if this is ok. Can I ask the
question once, and remember the answer every time the package is
updated, or must I ask the question every time (which seems onerous
to me and defeats the idea behing debconf).
(b) If the conf file has a particular way of defining how user changes
are made, and if this scheme is followed then the changes are preserved,
then does this satisfy Policy (it does not appear to in the document).
For instance,
- in setserial you say in debconf you want to maintain it yourself,
and this preserves the changes.
- in update-modules, you delete the first line of the conf file to
preserve the changes.
- in sendmail you make your changes after a ---make your changes after
this point---- marker in the file.
Do these all break Policy??
(c) Some conf files by nature work best by reconfiguring them as required.
serial.conf is reconfigured by default every time the serial module
is unloaded, modules.conf every time update-modules is executed, etc.
This flies in the face of the policy document which indicates that
these files can only be changed if they do not exist currently.
Personally I am interested in setserial, which uses serial.conf. In addition
it calls update-modules on a package update (which update modules.conf).
I surmise that...
(a) modutils is in charge of maintaining user changes to modules.conf,
and thus setserial should not try to control this file for modutils
even though it uses update-modules.
(b) provided I have a scheme for allowing user changes to override
automatic when-required configuration of the serial.conf file, and
that when the user makes changes to serial.conf in the proper way
the changes are preserved, then I satisfy policy.
(c) I am allowed to make changes to my own configuration file provided
that I satisfy the packages own rules of supporting user changes to
the file.
Discussion and concensus please. Plus if I am wrong a consistent and usable
solution would be excellent! Closed critical bug reports are counting on you.
G.
--
Gordon Russell
http://www.dcs.napier.ac.uk/~gor
PGP Public Key - http://www.dcs.napier.ac.uk/~gor/pgpkey.txt
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