Re: [RFD]: Question regarding actions to take on --purge of a package.
On Sat, 29 Jan 2000 at 22:14, Steve Greenland wrote about "Re: [RFD]:...":
> No, "purge" means what it says in dpkg(8):
>
> purge The package is selected to be purged (i.e. we want
> to remove everything, even configuration files).
>
> Note the use of the word "everything".
Well, the logs weren't created upon installation -- then why do they get
automatically removed upon "purge" ? That's the difference between the
config files (with even 100 hours of work put into them...they were STILL
created when the package was created). Some packages may create their log
files, but then they are null files and are usually rotated our once a
day/week/month -- so the connection is something different than what we
have with the config files.
> > Some people might want to save the config files, some may want to save the
> > logs.
>
> Then don't use purge. Use remove. That should preserve config files and
> logs If it doesn't, the package has bug.
And if I want to save just the logs? There IS something inherently
different with saving just the logs and nothing else (including config
files)
> > I think there should be options like what some Windows program may have in
> > that fancy-shmancy uninstaller that many programs use.
>
> I have better things to do with my time than sit and answer questions
> from uninstalls. The beauty of the whole dpkg system is that every
And then the first question would be "Auto Uninstall" which would remove
everything, based on your "purge" or "remove" answer.
> package acts the same. This is what "ease-of-use" is all about:
> consistency. Having each package act differently and ask a bunch of
> random questions is exactly what makes MS Windows a user disaster.
And what about the new Debian installer (is it called debhelper?)
Packages ALREADY don't act exactly the same when you install, many of them
ask questions. What I'm proposing is that upon uninstall
(a.k.a. purge) the packages asks if you want to remove everything or you
want to go it custom and then decide. First option would be what you get
today.
Consistency can only be maintained to a certain level, and if the user is
asking for it to be "broken" (sounds like a holy grail or something) then
there should be nothing wrong with that.
--
Brock Rozen brozen@torah.org
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