Re: the netbase/inetd conspiracy
On Wed, Sep 25, 2002 at 08:12:38PM -0500, Branden Robinson wrote:
> The user doesn't care as much about files changing, getting deleted, or
> flying to the moon on gossamer wings so much as he cares that his
> computer continues to operate consistently with the actions he has taken
> to configure it.
>
> Viewed in that light, part of the system changing behavior due to the
> presence or absence of a file versus changing behavior due to a file
> being modified is a distinction without a difference.
>
> Our responsibility is to respect the user's wishes insofar as we can
> discern them.
That said, "where did this configuration file go?" and "why doesn't this
configuration file come back when I reinstall the package? I wanted it
to!" are rather frequently asked questions on debian-user. It probably
doesn't help that the simplest dpkg option for restoring conffiles is
marked (correctly, I guess) as dangerous in 'dpkg --force-help', that
there's no convenient way to restore just one conffile short of
unpacking the package and copying it over, and that the syntax for
passing dpkg options through apt-get is such that I have to look it up
every time someone asks (and I still usually get the list option syntax
wrong).
I can definitely see room to enhance our current toolset with a view to
being more friendly towards the variety of wishes users have.
--
Colin Watson [cjwatson@flatline.org.uk]
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