Bug#145595: dpkg: --force-overwrite is supposed to be on for releases
Wichert Akkerman wrote:
> Previously Joey Hess wrote:
> > If the change is put into base-config, it is going to return to bother
> > us when we want to have plenty of unstable systems later on with
> > --force-overwrite turned off. If it's all done in dpkg, a new dpkg in
> > unstable can turn the force-overwrite off easily, but there is no
> > similar upgrade path for base-config.
>
> We did think about that but decided we would rather have people make
> a conscious choice to toggle that flag. Normal users who track stable or
> testing should have it turned on, and developers and people who track
> unstable hould have it turned off.
>
> Note how a single file overlap now tends to result in multiple
> bugreports. By only letting developers disable force-overwrite the
> chances of such a multitude of duplicate bugreports is greatly
> reduced.
That's a valid POV I suppose, but base-config is still not the place.
Whatever turns force-overwrite on needs to be an essential package, so
it is upgraded quite early, and so it is guaranteed to be installed in
the first place. Base-config doesn't meet the criteria. The package that
comes closest, in my mind, is dpkg...
If you want force-overwrite turned off only on request, why not default
it to on in dpkg and then tell developers to edit dpkg.cfg and turn it
off? The current default of off seems exactly wrong for your stated
goal of having it turned on for most people.
--
see shy jo
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