Re: Bug#426877: dpkg: Option "--oknodo" should be the default behaviour for "start-stop-daemon" (LSB specs)

[Steve Langasek <vorlon@debian.org>]

Right, expanding on my previous comments:

On Thu, Jul 03, 2008 at 11:02:13PM +0200, Iñaki Baz Castillo wrote:
> > The alternative is to change policy and/or lintian to ensure that packages
> > are using --oknodo unless they have a good reason not to.

> > > [1] LSB specifications about init script actions:
> > > http://www.linux-foundation.org/spec/refspecs/LSB_3.0.0/LSB-Core-generic/
> > >LSB-Core-generic/iniscrptact.html

> I think being LSB compliant is good for Debian.

The LSB init script specification *is a specification for the init scripts
of LSB packages*.  It has NOTHING to do with LSB compliance of LSB
implementations.  Debian is an LSB *implementation*, NOT a collection of LSB
applications.  Conforming with the LSB init script specification would NOT
make Debian packages conformant LSB applications!

The LSB init script spec is a reasonable and internally consistent set of
guidelines for init scripts.  It's not a bad policy; in fact, 90% of it is
word-for-word identical with the Debian init script policy.  But the LSB
init script spec is *not* the Debian init script policy, and we should not
blindly seek conformance to an LSB *application* spec for its own sake.

I happen to be in favor of seeing Debian adopt at least one feature of the
LSB init script spec that we miss, which is the mandatory 'status' argument.
But this needs to be adopted as part of Debian policy itself, through our
normal procedures for such changes.  Otherwise, we end up with maintainers
blindly believing that everything in the LSB init script spec is a good
idea, including things like this gem from 20.8:

  Conforming scripts shall not specify the "exit on error" option (i.e. set
  -e) when sourcing this file, or calling any of the commands thus made
  available.

Blech.

-- 
Steve Langasek                   Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS
Debian Developer                   to set it on, and I can move the world.
Ubuntu Developer                                    http://www.debian.org/
slangasek@ubuntu.com                                     vorlon@debian.org