On Thu, 2010-06-03 at 09:34 -0700, Russ Allbery wrote:
> The previous discussion on this bug didn't reach a final consensus on
> wording, but I still believe we have a consensus that this is the right
> general direction. Here's an updated patch that includes the permission
> suggested by Steve Langasek for maintainer scripts to abort for
> high-priority questions without a reasonable default, but with a caution
> against setting up that situation.
>
> I'm looking for seconds or further discussion if people don't believe that
> this is the right direction to go.
>
> diff --git a/policy.sgml b/policy.sgml
> index af00c0e..3f6b82d 100644
> --- a/policy.sgml
> +++ b/policy.sgml
> @@ -3557,15 +3557,26 @@ Files:
> <heading>Controlling terminal for maintainer scripts</heading>
>
> <p>
> - The maintainer scripts are guaranteed to run with a
> - controlling terminal and can interact with the user.
> - Because these scripts may be executed with standard output
> - redirected into a pipe for logging purposes, Perl scripts
> - should set unbuffered output by setting <tt>$|=1</tt> so
> - that the output is printed immediately rather than being
> - buffered.
> + Maintainer scripts are not guaranteed to run with a controlling
> + terminal and may not be able to interact with the user. They
> + must be able to fall back to noninteractive behavior if no
> + controlling terminal is available. Maintainer scripts that
> + prompt via a program conforming to the Debian Configuration
> + Management Specification (see <ref id="maintscriptprompt">) may
> + assume that program will handle falling back to noninteractive
> + behavior.
> + </p>
> +
> + <p>
> + For high-priority prompts without a reasonable default answer,
> + maintainer scripts may abort if there is no controlling
> + terminal. However, this situation should be avoided if at all
> + possible, since it prevents automated or unattended installs.
> + In most cases, users will consider this to be a bug in the
> + package.
> </p>
> </sect>
> +
> <sect id="exitstatus">
> <heading>Exit status</heading>
>
> @@ -9537,9 +9548,9 @@ END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
> </p>
>
> <p>
> - The maintainer scripts are guaranteed to run with a
> - controlling terminal and can interact with the user.
> - See <ref id="controllingterminal">.
> + The maintainer scripts are not guaranteed to run with a
> + controlling terminal and may not be able to interact with
> + the user. See <ref id="controllingterminal">.
> </p>
> </item>
Seconded.
This is definitely in the right direction and I think the wording has
enough of an escape clause in it, but with just the right amount of
deterrent.
Cheers,
Andrew.
--
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andrew (AT) morphoss (DOT) com +64(272)DEBIAN
Fine day for friends.
So-so day for you.
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