Bug#150511: tetex-bin: the postinst fails to preserve user changes in /etc/texmf/texmf.cnf and others
From: Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@debian.org>
Subject: Re: Bug#150511: tetex-bin: the postinst fails to preserve user changes in /etc/texmf/texmf.cnf and others
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2002 07:05:09 -0500
> Atsuhito> What is your main point in fact?
>
> My point in fact is that we, in Debian, have been going around
> telling people that it is OK for them to edit things under /etc, and
> we shall opreserve changes. Policy says so unambigusously.
Okay but I say once again that it is OK to edit things
in /etc/texmf/texmf.d/
> Atsuhito> - Dou you know that local changes of /etc/texmf/texmf.cnf
> Atsuhito> will be preserved if a user changes it through modifying
> Atsuhito> files in /etc/texmf/texmf.d/ or adding appropriate file(s)
> Atsuhito> in /etc/texmf/texmf.d/ and run "update-texmf"?
> Atsuhito> (I believe it is very rare that a user should modify the files
> Atsuhito> in /etc/texmf/texmf.d/ which tetex-bin owns.)
>
> Not quite good enough. If one were used to running TeX on a
> non Debian machine, editing texmf.conf comes naturally. Trying to
> maintian a common tetex environment across various flavours of UNIX
> is not uncommon (I have a texmf.conf that has grown over the years,
> with commnets, and toehr details).
>
> This violates the principle of least surprise.
Do you claim that although we Debian could provide much more
sophisticated mechanism than other UNIX systems, we should
follow the criteria of other less featured UNIX systems?
If you maintain a TeX environment across flavours of UNIX
then texmf.cnf of Debian would be the best candidate to use
commonly.
In fact, when I explained the new scheme of tetex-bin recently
in the mailing lists of Debian JP (Japanese Debian group)
some FreeBSD guy (developer?) expressed his deep interest in it
because he has thought FreeBSD and/or other UNIXs also need such
kind of mechanism for long time.
> is not uncommon (I have a texmf.conf that has grown over the years,
> with commnets, and toehr details).
This is because you hadn't update-texmf. Now you can maintain
texmf.cnf much more easily at least in Debian.
> Atsuhito> The direct editing of /etc/texmf/texmf.cnf is not reasonable
> Atsuhito> with our new scheme.
>
> Then your scheme is not reasonable in Debian, given that /etc
> has been determined to be the preserve of the local admin, to edit
> files at will.
>
> Atsuhito> - Or do you claim that /etc/texmf/texmf.cnf should be in,
> Atsuhito> for example, /var/lib/texmf/web2c/ ?
>
> No, since all configuration files must be in /etc.
Then we agreed on the location of texmf.cnf, great.
Our scheme is reasonable enough because it preserves user's
changes so long as a user changes texmf.cnf through modifying
files in /etc/texmf/texmf.d/ but we might/should provide
more good documentation or announcement on it.
> Atsuhito> Further, IMHO, it seems policy says nothing explicitly on the
> Atsuhito> preservation of changes when a package removes a conffile
> Atsuhito> (texmf.cnf) and installs new conffiles (/etc/texmf/texmf.d/05TeXMF
> Atsuhito> etc.).
>
> Policy states quite clearly that _all_ configuration files,
> whteher or not they are conffiles, MUST have user changes preserved.
This is not an answer to my question. A conffile must
preserve user changes and a cofiguration file must preserve
user changes, it's okay. But when a conffile is changed to
a configuration file (or vice versa) it is almost meaningless
to claim it must preserve user changes and policy says nothing
in such case, IMHO.
> Atsuhito> - The reason of the new scheme is to provide flexible
> Atsuhito> enough method to setup texmf.cnf for many related packages,
> Atsuhito> such as xmltex, ptex-bin, jtex-bin,...
>
> Quite so. But don't override user changes automatically.
I belive this feature of update-texmf is much, much, much
more important than you can imagine. These packages should
stop to work if we stop to use update-texmf.
Best regards, 2002.6.25
--
Debian Developer & Debian JP Developer - much more I18N of Debian
Atsuhito Kohda <kohda@debian.org>
Department of Math., Univ. of Tokushima
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