Bug#167422: general: files in /usr/share should be world-readable
> That's only a few packages. Why not just file bugs against them?
1) Because I thought it very likely that packages other than these eight
have the same problem, and filing bugs against only these eight would
not address the others that very likely exist. Those I know about
represent less than 1/3 of all Debian packages in just one of three
distributions.
2) Because in my opinion the problem is not properly with those
packages, it is with the policy that permits unreadable files in
/usr/share.
3) Because this problem seems a very close parallel to the principal
example of a bug that is appropriate to submit to "general": "many man
pages have wrong permissions."
4) Because I was not confident that my opinion had merit, and it is less
unpleasant to be told I'm wrong once than eight times. (Or told I'm
right, I could add.)
> Also, make a policy proposal that all files in /usr/share be
world-readable on Debian systems.
I don't know how to make a policy proposal. I'm not a developer. But
on your advice, I will look into how to do it, and if regular users can
make one, I will.
> In sum, I'm not sure why it was necessary to file a bug against
"general" regarding this problem.
It wasn't "necessary" for me to do anything at all. I spent some time
thinking about the best way to report this problem. I did not know
about policy proposals then; now I do. Though I did not realize how
best to do it, I was trying to help improve Debian -- a possibility I
wish you had considered before expressing your irritation with my
report.
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