Re: debconf

[Marcus Brinkmann <Marcus.Brinkmann@ruhr-uni-bochum.de>]

On Tue, Oct 17, 2000 at 06:19:24PM +0200, Robert Bihlmeyer wrote:
> Marcus Brinkmann <Marcus.Brinkmann@ruhr-uni-bochum.de> writes:
> 
> > >     export PATH=$PATH:`pwd`/Client
> [...]
> > Uh, this would be a bug.
> 
> debconf build-depends on debconf-utils which depends on debconf,
> again. I'll ask on debian-devel if this is legal.

Ah, I see. Ugly, but if everything works after you bootstrapped it and
worked around it, who cares (debconf build scripts should really take
care of it itself).
 
> > > and dpkg warnings are architecture
> > > 'i386' not in remapping table,
> > 
> > the latter means something calls dpkg --print-*-architecture, which
> > would be a bug, too (most likely).
> 
> Why would that be a bug? Because the envvar-override is not heeded?

Because the various dpkg --print*arch* options are obsolete and don't give
the correct values for the Hurd (well, --print-installation-architecture
does, but the other two don't, and --print-arhcitecture is producing this
warning). In some rare cases --print-arhcitecture is only a flallback if
dpkg-architecture isn't there, and then it is okay to use it for that
purpose.
 
> Most debhelper scripts call this in their initialization phase - see
> /usr/lib/perl5/Debian/Debhelper/Dh_Lib.pm line 347

That's long obsolete, please file a bug. Dh_Lib should check for the
environment variable DEB_HOST_ARCH, I think. But I am not sure, because the
variable name used is $buildarch, and I don't think the build arch is meant
here, but the Debian host arch name. Only if DEB_HOST_ARCH is not set it can
fall back to whatever it wants.

It's also disturbing that debhelper seems to reduplicate algorithms here
that come from dpkg-dev. Looks as if dpkg-dev doesn't have sufficient
external interfaces, or Joey doesn't like them.

Those little problems are most annoying, because they are the result of
major sloppieness, and basically unnecessary. But they keep popping up like
moles. I fixed dozens of those in the last two years, and it is only slowly
getting better. More pair of eyes looking at this stuff are welcome, and
one point for you to spot this code in Dh_Lib! 

Thanks,
Marcus

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