Re: RFC: allow output from maintainer scripts
Anthony Towns wrote:
> The first paragraph of that section states:
>
> ``The package installation scripts should avoid producing output
> which it (sic) is unnecessary for the user to see and should rely
> on `dpkg' to stave off boredom on the part of a user installing
> many packages. [...]''
>
> The fourth paragraph continues:
>
> ``If a package has a vitally important piece of information to pass to
> the user [...] it should display this in the `postinst' script and
> prompt the user to hit return to acknowledge the message.''
> Hmmm. I'm not actually sure this conclusion makes sense now. Joey, am
> I mis-stating something? (It seems to me there's a difference between
> "necessary" output, which can be displayed, and "vitally important"
> output, which must pause the installation)
Well I'd never really read those two paragraphs side by side I must
confess.
I suppose it can be read that way. Since old policy doesn't have
rationalles and that has been in it forever, it's hard to say if
this is intentonal or just a poor choice of words.
> The sorts of information which currently get displayed, but which don't
> get prompted for, are things like "Restarting internet superserver:
> inetd", or "Updating /etc/network/interfaces: succeeded".
Or <40 lines of garbage ralating to byte-compiling obscure emacs modules>.
> To me, those sorts of outputs seem useful and helpful
Some of them, a lot are massively useless debug output.
--
see shy jo
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