Bug#61308: PROPOSAL] Initializing databases by using conffile s.
On 29-Mar-00, 11:45 (CST), Buddha Buck <bmb@CBORD.com> wrote:
> I think there are at least three basic cases that should be considered:
>
> 1. Files like /etc/services, which are essentially global configuration.
> They do not change often, but they do occasionally. They are essentially
> the same on every machine.
>
> 2. Files like /etc/hosts, which are install-specific. The sysadmin is
> expected to change them, and should not be automagically changed without the
> sysadmin knowing.
>
> 3. Files like /etc/passwd or /etc/mailcap, which serves more as a database
> than a configuration file. These are expected to be modified automagically
> or by hand as is needed.
>
> Case 1 and 2 should be conf files, but case 3 should not.
No, case 2 shouldn't be a conffile either. From section 4.7.3 of the policy
manual:
"The easy way to achieve this behavior is to make the configuration
file a conffile. This is appropriate if it is possible to distribute a
default version that will work for most installations, although some
system administrators may choose to modify it. This implies that the
default version will be part of the package distribution, and must not
be modified by the maintainer scripts during installation (or at any
other time)."
This is not the case for /etc/hosts or other installation specific
files. (Well, one could argue that the valid default for /etc/hosts
was
127.0.0.1 localhost
and that it was so unlikely to change in the distribution that making it
conffile would do little harm.) (Or maybe /etc/hosts is a bad example of
what you intended...if so, please clarify.)
Steve
--
Steve Greenland <stevegr@debian.org>
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