Bug#203650: Poor recommendation in dpkg-statoverride section

[Colin Watson <cjwatson@debian.org>]

On Thu, Jul 31, 2003 at 06:24:18PM +0100, Andrew Suffield wrote:
> So, let's break down what happens a bit:
> 
>  - dpkg unpacks the files, with their original permissions
>  - postinst creates a user
>  - postinst adds a statoverride to change the permissions
> 
> The "problem" is that the user doesn't exist until after you unpack
> the files. Adding a statoverride here is a somewhat strange approach
> in its own right, ignoring such matters as the period between unpack
> and configure when permissions/owners are wrong.
> 
> I suggest that this sequence would make more sense:
> 
>  - preinst creates a user
>  - dpkg unpacks the files
> 
> It's easier to understand and doesn't tread on the admin's toes as
> much. Note that dpkg stores users by name, not by uid.

How should you ensure that the user in question exists on the system
building the package?

-- 
Colin Watson                                  [cjwatson@flatline.org.uk]