Bug#369941: linux-image-2.6.16-2-686: Debconf question should be reworded, or upgrade mechanism made more clever

[Frank Küster <frank@debian.org>]

Package: linux-image-2.6.16-2-686
Version: 2.6.16-13bpo1
Severity: important

I have linux-image-2.6-686 installed, so that I automatically get new
versions of 2.6.16 (in fact this is a sarge system with backports from
backports.org, but that probably does not matter at all).

I'm also routinely running 2.6.16, and while upgrading from 2.6.16-1-686
to 2.6.16-2-686 I got a warning message that it would be very dangerous
to proceed, since the machine might become unbootable and all that.

I'm not sure which template that was; I can't find it in the plethora of
debconf questions below.  I've found one that talked about "permission
to remove /lib/modules/...", but this one I did *not* see.

I think there are several things wrong with that.

First of all, I have a couple of other kernels installed and configured
in menu.list (lilo is not installed); isn't it possible to detect that
and make the message a little less alarming?

Second, I think a standard install of sarge, and probably etch as well,
will only have one kernel image installed.  Doesn't this mean that each
time a kernel is upgraded (e.g. via security updates), users will get
that message?  I think we should take great effort to avoid this, and
instead provide a clean upgrade procedure.  For example by delaying
parts of the configuration to the next reboot.

Regards, Frank



-- System Information:
Debian Release: 3.1
  APT prefers unstable
  APT policy: (99, 'unstable')
Architecture: i386 (i686)
Kernel: Linux 2.6.16-1-686
Locale: LANG=de_DE@euro, LC_CTYPE=de_DE@euro (charmap=ISO-8859-15)

Versions of packages linux-image-2.6.16-2-686 depends on:
ii  module-init-tools           3.2.2-1bpo1  tools for managing Linux kernel mo
ii  yaird [linux-initramfs-tool 0.0.12-8bpo1 Yet Another mkInitRD

-- debconf information:
  linux-image-2.6.16-2-686/postinst/old-system-map-link-2.6.16-2-686: true
  linux-image-2.6.16-2-686/preinst/failed-to-move-modules-2.6.16-2-686:
  linux-image-2.6.16-2-686/preinst/overwriting-modules-2.6.16-2-686: true
  linux-image-2.6.16-2-686/postinst/create-kimage-link-2.6.16-2-686: true
  linux-image-2.6.16-2-686/prerm/removing-running-kernel-2.6.16-2-686: true
  linux-image-2.6.16-2-686/postinst/depmod-error-2.6.16-2-686: false
  linux-image-2.6.16-2-686/preinst/abort-install-2.6.16-2-686:
  linux-image-2.6.16-2-686/postinst/bootloader-error-2.6.16-2-686:
  linux-image-2.6.16-2-686/postinst/kimage-is-a-directory:
  linux-image-2.6.16-2-686/preinst/abort-overwrite-2.6.16-2-686:
  linux-image-2.6.16-2-686/prerm/would-invalidate-boot-loader-2.6.16-2-686: true
  linux-image-2.6.16-2-686/preinst/already-running-this-2.6.16-2-686:
  linux-image-2.6.16-2-686/preinst/elilo-initrd-2.6.16-2-686: true
  linux-image-2.6.16-2-686/preinst/initrd-2.6.16-2-686:
  linux-image-2.6.16-2-686/postinst/old-initrd-link-2.6.16-2-686: true
* linux-image-2.6.16-2-686/preinst/lilo-initrd-2.6.16-2-686: false
  linux-image-2.6.16-2-686/preinst/lilo-has-ramdisk:
  linux-image-2.6.16-2-686/preinst/bootloader-initrd-2.6.16-2-686: true
  linux-image-2.6.16-2-686/postinst/old-dir-initrd-link-2.6.16-2-686: true
  linux-image-2.6.16-2-686/postinst/depmod-error-initrd-2.6.16-2-686: false
  linux-image-2.6.16-2-686/postinst/bootloader-test-error-2.6.16-2-686:

-- 
Frank Küster
Single Molecule Spectroscopy, Protein Folding @ Inst. f. Biochemie, Univ. Zürich
Debian Developer (teTeX)