Re: FWD: When conffiles get cut adrift

[Andrew Pimlott <andrew@pimlott.net>]

On Wed, Sep 18, 2002 at 09:36:20AM -0400, Sam Hartman wrote:
> >>>>> "Andrew" == Andrew Pimlott <andrew@pimlott.net> writes:
>     Andrew> 3.  Systems which for whatever reason depend on the old
>     Andrew> conffiles shouldn't break.  (Clint gave the plausible
>     Andrew> example of a locally compiled zsh that uses the /etc/
>     Andrew> files.)
> 
>     Andrew> My approach is:
> 
>     Andrew> 1.  Pop a debconf dialog explaining the move, and asking
>     Andrew> whether the files in /etc/ should be preserved.
> 
> 
> I hope you do this at priority low.  Debian upgrades are already
> excessively chatty and it is unfortunate to see this problem grow
> worse.

Which raises the question (that I should have asked initially) of
what the default answer should be.  99% of users will want the old
conffiles removed, but can we count on the 1% to answer low-priority
questions?

I too would hate to bother users with this, but can it be avoided
when conffiles move?

Perhaps leaving the old conffiles behind is the best we can do, but
this seems awfully un-Debian.

Andrew