Bug#813226: tzdata config script ignores /etc/timezone on non-interactive configuration

Copy paste error: https://stackoverflow.com/a/20693661

Don't forget the 1 at the end or you get sent to the wrong place =).

Somewhat related... maybe I have a misunderstanding of debconf... can you reconfigure packages that belong to 'd-i'? There are a lot of preseed questions belonging to 'd-i' (debian-installer), would it make sense (is it possible?) to allow reconfiguration using parts of the installer configuration/debconf answers? Not sure there is a reason to have all of d-i clock-setup/utc, d-i time/zone & tzdata tzdata/Areas etc. But that might be a discussion left to another day (or maybe the documentation is out of date?).

$ sudo debconf-get-selections --installer | grep -v '#' | grep 'd-i' | grep zone

$ sudo debconf-get-selections | grep -v '#' | grep 'd-i' | grep zone

https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/amd64/apbs04.html.en#preseed-time

On Sun, May 20, 2018 at 8:40 PM, Raymond Rakesh Chetty <raymond.chetty@berkeley.edu> wrote:

Why isn't debconf the single source of truth for tzdata configuration? If you used debconf then people wouldn't rely on implementation details to correctly configure their systems. Abstract configuration from implementation (i.e. separate timezone from is the file a link?, where is it located?, which file needs the right information?)

https://stackoverflow.com/a/2069366 would be the top vote and everybody would have (or soon obtain) a good (some) understanding of debconf.

All people need to know is what question is going to get asked, or needs answering (debconf-show + some documentation). Isn't that how debian is supposed to work? https://wiki.debian.org/debconf

The original timezone configuration would get assigned with:

$ echo "tzdata tzdata/Areas select Asia" | sudo debconf-set-selections

$ echo "tzdata tzdata/Zones/Asia select Tokyo" | sudo debconf-set-selection
$ dpkg-reconfigure -fnoninteractive tzdata

--
Best,
Raymond Chetty

raymond.chetty@berkeley.edu

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Best,
Raymond Chetty

raymond.chetty@berkeley.edu

Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.