This is an automatic notification regarding your Bug report
#152299: dpkg: Should warn when 3rd-party file effects (un)installation,
which was filed against the dpkg package.
It has been closed by one of the developers, namely
Adam Heath <doogie@debian.org>.
Their explanation is attached below. If this explanation is
unsatisfactory and you have not received a better one in a separate
message then please contact the developer, by replying to this email.
Debian bug tracking system administrator
(administrator, Debian Bugs database)
Received: (at 152299-done) by bugs.debian.org; 8 Jul 2002 21:17:19 +0000
From doogie@debian.org Mon Jul 08 16:17:19 2002
Return-path: <doogie@debian.org>
Received: from boof.brainfood.com (gradall.private.brainfood.com) [65.125.64.189]
by master.debian.org with esmtp (Exim 3.12 1 (Debian))
id 17Rfsl-0006NR-00; Mon, 08 Jul 2002 16:17:19 -0500
Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] ident=adam)
by gradall.private.brainfood.com with esmtp (Exim 3.35 #1 (Debian))
id 17Rful-0006LV-00; Mon, 08 Jul 2002 16:19:23 -0500
Date: Mon, 8 Jul 2002 16:19:22 -0500 (CDT)
From: Adam Heath <doogie@debian.org>
X-X-Sender: <adam@localhost>
To: Michael Toomim <toomim@cory.eecs.berkeley.edu>,
<152299-done@bugs.debian.org>
Subject: Re: Bug#152299: dpkg: Should warn when 3rd-party file effects
(un)installation
In-Reply-To: <[🔎] E17Rdsd-0000GW-00@cheeseskin>
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.33.0207081618050.2934-100000@localhost>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Delivered-To: 152299-done@bugs.debian.org
On Mon, 8 Jul 2002, Michael Toomim wrote:
When dpkg encounters a package's installed file that has been modified
by the user, it doesn't by default replace it with a new version.
Instead, it just leaves the file there and skips the new version's
file.
Er, only conffiles get such treatment.
This is a prime source of system-breakage. For instance, I've had X
become broken twice in the last year when dpkg didn't replace an old
.so driver file for my video card on upgrade, and have had it happen
in other cases as well.
A .so is a binary file. And .sos reside in /usr. This file is not a
conffile. So, the file will be overwritten.
While I think it's a good thing for dpkg to be conservative and keep
the 3rd-party file, I think that we could solve the system-breakage
problem by giving a warning during dpkg's install/uninstall process
when a 3rd-party file is not removed/replaced. If I had seen such a
warning during my last upgrades, I would have been saved from a lot of
ugly debugging.
There was no warning to give, so no warning was printed.
If you have something wrong, then say so. Hand waving will be dismissed as
such.