Bug#87711: [PROPOSAL] Clarification of example configuration files

[Julian Gilbey <J.D.Gilbey@qmw.ac.uk>]

Package: debian-policy
Version: 3.5.2.0
Severity: wishlist

[Following from a thread on -mentors]

The question: can you have a default configuration file in
/usr/share/doc which is copied by the postinst to /etc if it does not
yet exist?

On Mon, Feb 26, 2001 at 01:21:06PM +0100, Ove Kaaven wrote:
> Maybe you misunderstood what I was referring to... of course changing or
> messing with them isn't, but generating/installing them from e.g.
> /usr/share/doc/foo/examples is a violation, according to 13.3.

Ah, you're right.  13.3 and 11.7.3 contradict over this point: 13.3
does not permit accessing it from a program, whereas 11.7.3
specifically suggests this course of action.

I would like to suggest the following resolution:

    A common practice is to create a script called `<package>-configure'
    and have the package's `postinst' call it if and only if the
    configuration file does not already exist.  In certain cases it is
    useful for there to be an example or template file which the
-   maintainer scripts use.  Such files should be in `/usr/share/doc' if
-   they are examples or `/usr/lib' if they are templates, and should be
-   perfectly ordinary `dpkg'-handled files (_not_ `conffiles').
+   maintainer scripts use.  Such files should be in
+   `/usr/share/<package>' or `/usr/lib/<package>', with a symbolic
+   link from `/usr/share/doc/<package>/examples' if they are
+   examples, and should be perfectly ordinary `dpkg'-handled files
+   (_not_ `conffiles').

The reason I'm suggesting this is that there is talk of dpkg being
able to selectively ignore (not install) certain directory trees.
Now, if someone decides to ignore /usr/share/doc, the original method
will break, but this one will still work.  And the decision whether to
use /usr/share or /usr/lib is probably not about templates, but about
whether the package is arch-indep or not, as per FHS.

I'm not convinced that this is the right thing to do, though; what do
people think?

Please keep the discussion to the BTS only, which is automatically
copied to -policy, so that this doesn't get discussed on three mailing
lists.

   Julian

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         Julian Gilbey, Dept of Maths, Queen Mary, Univ. of London
       Debian GNU/Linux Developer,  see http://people.debian.org/~jdg
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