Bug#845715: Required targets must not write outside of the source package tree

[Ian Jackson <ijackson@chiark.greenend.org.uk>]

Stuart Prescott writes ("Bug#845715: Required targets must not write outside of the source package tree"):
> Bill Allombert wrote:
> > +This restriction is intended to prevent source package builds creating
> > +and depending on state outside of themselves, thus affecting multiple
> > +independent rebuilds.  In particular, the required targets must not
> > +attempt to write into ``HOME``.
> 
> At the risk of letting perfect be the enemy of good, is it obvious following 
> this final remark about HOME that:

Thanks for your attention to detail :-), but:

Yes, I think it is.  "In particular" introduces a statement which is
clarifies the meaning of the general rule, and assists the reader, by
giving an example.  I don't think "in particular" can be correctly
used to extend (or except from) a general rule in the way required by
the misreadings you are concerned about.

   "All felines have four legs.  In particular, cats do."
 * "All felines have four legs.  In particular, dogs do." <- wrong

> It's reasonably common to redefine HOME within d/rules to make the
> build robust against a user's config files and/or to prevent
> unwanted config files being created.

Having said all that, I don't know if it would be worth explicitly
mentioning this very general and useful technique for the benefit of
readers who haven't osmosed or reinvented it.

Thanks,
Ian.

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