Bug#32877: Cleverer conffile merge
Package: dpkg
Severity: wishlist
When dpkg notices that a conffile has changed, it could rather helpfully
offer the option of using the merge command.
The command-line dpkg would use is
merge <conffile>.dpkg-new <conffile>.dpkg-dist <conffile>
Which, in merge speak, means
Check (linewise) for differences between <conffile>.dpkg-dist and
<conffile>. Apply such differences to <conffile>.dpkg-new.
Dpkg could then use merge's exit code to find out whether there were any
conflicts, and recommend that the user check the file if there were - or
better still, launch $VISUAL for the user to do it themselves.
This won't work with all config files, but would definitely enhance dpkg's
usability.
The maintainer may wish to merge this bug with #1921. #1921 claims that
dpkg doesn't keep the whole config file around - but when I was correcting
by hand, I found a <conffile>.dpkg-dist which did exactly this, so I don't
quite know the details here.
Jules Bean
/----------------+-------------------------------+---------------------\
| Jelibean aka | jules@jellybean.co.uk | 6 Evelyn Rd |
| Jules aka | jules@debian.org | Richmond, Surrey |
| Julian Bean | jmlb2@hermes.cam.ac.uk | TW9 2TF *UK* |
+----------------+-------------------------------+---------------------+
| War doesn't demonstrate who's right... just who's left. |
| When privacy is outlawed... only the outlaws have privacy. |
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