not starting packages at boot

[Dan Jacobson <jidanni@jidanni.org>]

Sure, one can go behind the backs of maintainers with
> http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/securing-debian-howto/ch3.en.html#s3.6
> ("Disabling daemon services")
and hope you remember what you did. But it's not as friendly as
the approaches more and more packages are taking, as seen in my /var/log/boot:

SpamAssassin Mail Filter Daemon: disabled, see /etc/default/spamassassin
hylafax is disabled, see /etc/default/hylafax
OpenBSD Secure Shell server not in use (/etc/ssh/sshd_not_to_be_run)
Not starting xprint: disabled in /etc/default/xprint
Not starting apache2 - edit /etc/default/apache2 and change NO_START to be 0.

We are still waiting for
281974 cupsys: allow not starting on boot
218040 fetchmail: no way to not start on boot permanently

Now that maintainers realized that one might like a package installed,
but perhaps only plans to use it unoften, it only makes sense for not
starting at boot to be offered as a friendly configuration option,
instead of needing some devious guerilla techniques to thwart the
packages starting.

Sure those tactics might work, but whatever you did isn't easy to see
as it is in /etc/default/.

That each package will have its own way of not starting in
/etc/default/ is because of disbelief that there needs a standard
mechanism to do this _that the user can encounter with
dpkg-reconfigure_, with the results stored in /etc/default/ etc.  No
more monkeying with the links behind maintainers' backs, etc.  Proof
that something visible upon dpkg-reconfigure is better is seen in the
more and more packages that are getting on the user friendly
bandwagon.