Bug#42052: var/spool/mail and /var/mail
We spent a lot of time on this list thrashing out the /var/spool/mail
vs. /var/mail issue. It would be a shame if it came to nothing due to
a lack of seconds. Please check up this final proposal (included
below) and second it if you think it appropriate.
Julian
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Julian Gilbey, Dept of Maths, QMW, Univ. of London. J.D.Gilbey@qmw.ac.uk
Debian GNU/Linux Developer, see http://www.debian.org/~jdg
I figured since it actually seems like there are no major outstanding
objections to this proposal that I probably should rewrite it taking into
account everything said till now.
The general idea:
1. We cannot just make use of /var/spool/mail illegal right now.
2. New packages may use /var/spool/mail only if they declare dependency
on a version of base-files which creates it.
3. For the purposes of least-surprise upgrades, a system without
/var/mail will have a symlink created from /var/spool/mail to it.
4. For the purposes of maximum compatibility, new installations will
include /var/mail as a directory, but /var/spool/mail will be
maintained as a symlink. The installation should be updated to create
this by default, and base-files should make sure the compatibility
symlink exists to prevent mail loss.
Transition plan:
Packages using /var/spool/mail should be deprecated immediately, but
remain legal. The policy group shall review the situation periodically
and, taking into consideration issues such as number and complexity of
packages not following new policy, make the use of /var/spool/mail illegal
some point in the future at their discretion. Any bug reports necessary
will be filed with important severity at that time.
For historical reasons, compatibility with /var/spool/mail will always be
maintained.
Policy changes (better wordings welcome):
Second paragraph of 5.6 which currently reads:
The mail spool is /var/spool/mail and the interface to send a mail
message is /usr/sbin/sendmail (as per the FHS). The mail spool is part
of the base system and not part of the MTA package.
should be changed to:
The mail spool is /var/mail and the interface to send a mail message is
/usr/sbin/sendmail (as per the FHS). Use of /var/spool/mail is still
permitted, but has been deprecated. [reference to 3.1.3 added below]
A new section 3.1.3 should be inserted into policy:
3.1.3 The system-wide mail directory
The system-wide mail directory is /var/mail. This directory is part of
the base system and should not owned by any particular mail agents.
The use of /var/spool/mail is deprecated, but still permitted. To
maintain partial upgrade compatibility, packages using /var/mail should
declare dependency on base-files (>= #BFVER#).
How's that? Does it cover everything? Should a second paragraph under
3.1.3 be added talking about both always existing and all that? I think
those details should be worked out in the base-files postinst and in
base.tgz since they are the only two packages that should even come close
to messing with it. Seconds? Issues left unresolved?
--
Joseph Carter <knghtbrd@debian.org> Debian GNU/Linux developer
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