[PATCH] dpkg-maintscript-helper(1): dpkg only has to be unpacked for it to be usable

[Jonathan Nieder <jrnieder@gmail.com>]

Some packages use a pre-dependency to ensure a version of dpkg with
dpkg-maintscript-helper is available by the time preinst is run.
Clarify that "available" here means "unpacked", not configured, for
some added peace of mind.

Signed-off-by: Jonathan Nieder <jrnieder@gmail.com>
---
Raphael Hertzog wrote:

> Unpacking is enough. It's just a shell script, there's nothing more needed
> to make it work.

Thanks.  How about this patch?

[...]
> Until then I advise people to use the protected version (with the if test)
> or to add the pre-dependency (but it's not really needed to discuss it on
> -devel, introducing a requirement to upgrade dpkg early in the upgrade
> process is not a big deal).

Hmm, isn't the policy on pre-dependencies rather meant to avoid
pre-dependency loops?  So, for example, it would be a Bad Thing™ if
coreutils acquires a pre-dependency (or dependency, for that matter)
on dpkg for this feature.

I don't see why it's justified to waive the policy §3.5 requirement
here without at least some discussion on the debian-policy list.

 debian/changelog              |    2 ++
 man/dpkg-maintscript-helper.1 |    2 +-
 2 files changed, 3 insertions(+), 1 deletions(-)

diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index e488faf..c34dbd7 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ dpkg (1.16.0) UNRELEASED; urgency=low
   [ Jonathan Nieder ]
   * Remove support for use of synchronous sync(2), due to its pernicious
     side-effects and to ease maintenance.
+  * Clarify that an up-to-date dpkg only needs to be unpacked for
+    dpkg-maintscript-helper to work.
 
   [ Updated programs translations ]
   * Portuguese (Miguel Figueiredo).
diff --git a/man/dpkg-maintscript-helper.1 b/man/dpkg-maintscript-helper.1
index c01ac78..4cd061f 100644
--- a/man/dpkg-maintscript-helper.1
+++ b/man/dpkg-maintscript-helper.1
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ abort\-upgrade/abort\-install, the \fBpostrm\fP renames
 .P
 Given that \fBdpkg\-maintscript\-helper\fP is used in the \fBpreinst\fP,
 using it unconditionally requires a pre-dependency to ensure that the
-required version of dpkg has been configured before. The required version
+required version of dpkg has been unpacked before. The required version
 depends on the command used, for \fBrm_conffile\fP and \fBmv_conffile\fP
 it is 1.15.7.2:
 .P
-- 
1.7.4.1