Bug#348336: improve section on shared config files

[Santiago Vila <sanvila@unex.es>]

On Mon, 30 Jan 2006, cobaco (aka Bart Cornelis) wrote:

> On Sunday 29 January 2006 02:36, Santiago Vila wrote:
> > +            Sometimes two or more packgages need to be able to modify
> > the +            same configuration file. One such case is were related
> > packages +            share a configuration file (e.g. bash and other
> > bourn compatible +            shells share /etc/profile).
> >
> > You are implicitly saying that there are packages that "need" to modify
> > /etc/profile. 
> 
> The reason that /etc/profile is in base-files AFAICT is because it's shared 
> between all bourne-compatible shells. The above claims that /etc/profile is 
> an example of a shared configuration file. How is this inaccurate?

No, the above claims more than you say it claims. You are putting /etc/profile
as an example of a) file which is shared as a configuration file and
b) file which two or more packages need to be able to modify.

I object to b) being in policy. The file /etc/profile is not a file
which two or more packages need to be able to modify.

> [...]
> On the other hand there's currently at least 5 packages[1] that have a blurb 
> in their README saying something to the effect of "add this bit 
> to /etc/profile for the package to do everything it promises to". 
> No surprise to me that all of those happen to fit the single extra use case 
> that this proposal documents.
> -> So yes, there's a _demonstrated_ need for configuration packages to be
>    able to modify /etc/profile

Not at all. Just because some packages do something does not mean they
need to do it, or that they need to do something the way they do it.

For example, let't take the user-es package, which you always mention
as an example of package that "needs" profile.d. What does such package do?

It has a README saying the user to add this line to /etc/profile:

if [ -f /etc/language-es ]; then source /etc/language-es; fi

The file /etc/language-es sets lot of environment variables. However,
/etc/profile is the wrong place to do that, as it does not work in every shell.
The file /etc/environment would be much more appropriate.

So, just because some packages tell the user "modify /etc/profile" does
not mean they "need" to modify /etc/profile.