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Bug#780797: Package modifying a user-modified config file? [Bug #780797]



> On Sun, 2015-03-22 at 20:35 +0000, Colin Watson wrote:
>> Anyway, I would appreciate it if people could refrain from filling
>>  my mailbox further about this bug. :-)
> One last thing perhaps. O:-)

Colin: my apologies for adding work [especially so if any of the
work added is unnecessary].  I'm sure you meant well; I do too.

On 03/22/2015 06:18 PM, Christoph Anton Mitterer wrote:
[...]
>> I haven't had time to deal with it over the last couple of days 
>> (Debian developer in having a social life shocker!), but in brief I
>> intend to revert the offending change in its entirety as it's 
>> clearly causing far more trouble than it can possibly be worth. 
>> I'll post further rationale when I get half a chance.
> 
> Well I don't really care that much, as said my intention was just to 
> improve defaults for others.
> 
> But to be honest, and without intending to offend any of the 
> others,... it kinda seems to me that people make a mountain out of a
> molehill.

Christoph: there may be a lack of empathy in your response statements.
Please try to "put yourself in the user's shoes" -- the issue looks
very different from that perspective.  [I'm likewise considering this
from the maintainer perspective.]

> The change is really little, for well grounded security reasons it's 
> actually intended by upstream that non env vars are send/accepted 
> unless explicitly allowed by the admin. So people who complain now 
> likely just abused that "hole" in Debian's default all the years, 
> which is however no grant for a right to do so forever.

Again: at least for me, it's not about /this/ particular change, it's
about changes happening to user-modified configs on upgrades without
dpkg prompting.  sshd_config is literally /the/ most important config
file on systems for me, and therefore it's also the file that's most
sensitive.  [ssh_config similarly.]

In terms of the /particular/ changes made to ssh_config and sshd_config
in this case, I made the assumption that it was for good reasons and
with good intentions so that's why I didn't object to that.  But... at
the same time I keep in mind that "the road to hell is paved with good
intentions".  (Which could also include me strongly objecting.)

> It feels a bit like the systemd debate where a loud minority started
> an outcry about things which in reality probably didn't even affect
> them.

Since you mention it, I'll just say that the systemd debate is another
place marked by arguments that often lack empathy and understanding of
the the other person's perspective.

   -- Chris

-- 
Chris Knadle
Chris.Knadle@coredump.us


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