Re: config files
On Sat, Jun 17, 2000 at 08:34:05AM -0400, Decklin Foster wrote:
> > Should postrm look for these files and remove them on purge?
> > I got a feeling it should not, but since I mention the possibility
> > to create the files in the documentation, I ask this question.
>
> I would probably install them empty and mark them as conffiles, thus
> removing them on a purge (but not a remove). A bunch of defaults
> commented out is always better than an empty file though.
Note that if it's a configuration file that will simply have to be changed
to be usable, you don't have to mark it as a conffile, you put an example
file into the package, and then in postinst, if there's no file in place
already, copy that example to the real location. And remove it in postrm, on
purge, of course.
That way the package or the packaging system won't meddle with user's
configuration in that file, ever, but it will provide him/her with a useful
example if s/he doesn't have it already.
For example, files handled like this are inetd.conf and xinetd.conf,
/etc/aliases, ppp's pap- and chap- secrets, sendmail.cf, exim.conf and
probably many others.
--
Digital Electronic Being Intended for Assassination and Nullification
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