Re: merged-/usr transition: debconf or not?

[Sam Hartman <hartmans@debian.org>]

>>>>> "Zack" == Zack Weinberg <zack@owlfolio.org> writes:
    Zack> Maybe it was not obvious to anyone in 2016 that the package
    Zack> database being inconsistent with the filesystem could cause
    Zack> actual data loss.  However, I think it was the responsibility
    Zack> of the developers of usrmerge to find out how bad that problem
    Zack> actually was, rather than dismissing it.  And, as it has
    Zack> proven to be a genuinely critical problem, it is also their
    Zack> responsibility to fix it, per the 'no one can be forced to do
    Zack> anything' rule.

I agree with the above, but very definitely not with the further
conclusions you draw.

I think that the usrmerge proponents need to fix the problem before
encouraging moving  files from / to /usr in packages.
They can do that either by:

* proposing fixes to dpkg

or

* As Michael has pointed out, proposing mechanisms to guarantee that no
  Debian release both includes file migrations and package migrations.

We disagree about the rollback.
If we're ever communicating in a more realtime context I'd love to chat
about the balances around making sure we do not reward bad behavior.