Re: NEVER remove log files without asking

[Glenn Maynard <glenn@zewt.org>]

On Sun, Aug 15, 2004 at 02:00:53PM +1000, Russell Coker wrote:
> No.  You should remove the default log files only.  Other log files are the 
> administrator's business.

I'd find it bizarre for a purge to delete access.log* and error.log*, but
no other logs.  The only difference is whether they're in the default
configuration.  In my case, either I want all logs kept or none; I don't
want random ones being left behind based on the current default configuration
(that I may not use at all).

Also, the default configuration may change significantly between initial
install and a later purge, which a user may never notice.  For example, I may
scrap the default access.log/error.log configuration, create a new one that
creates "access.log" and "crashes.log", and the default configuration
(that I'm not using) may change with an upgrade to include "crashes.log".
Suddenly, if I purge, "crashes.log" is among the "default logs" to be purged,
which it wasn't when I installed and configured the package.

I've certainly purged Apache in the past and been extremely irritated to find
my logs gone, too--for me, Apache logs (including default ones) are like user
data, not to be deleted lightly.  In retrospect, I should have --removed the
package and deleted the old configuration by hand.

On the other hand, if I install a random package to evaluate, which creates
logs, and then quickly uninstall it, I don't want it leaving junk behind.

Of course, I'd expect a purge to never delete files that the package didn't
create at all--that is, if I drop an essay in /var/log/apache accidentally,
a purge shouldn't touch it.

-- 
Glenn Maynard