Bug#275140: tetex-base: installation fails if "noclobber" is set

[Frank Küster <frank@debian.org>]

clone 275140 -1
retitle -1 Debian policy is unclear about "noclobber" in (maintainer) scripts
# not yet reassigning
stop

Nils Barth <nbarth@math.uchicago.edu> wrote:

> Package: tetex-base
> Version: 2.0.2b-6
> Severity: important
>
> The postinst script:
> /var/lib/dpkg/info/tetex-base.postinst
> fails if you set bash's "noclobber" (say in your .bashrc via set -o noclobber).
> (yes, I set noclobber in root's .bashrc -- I'm careful)

Thank you for the report, and the thorough analysis. 

> I don't know (and couldn't find) Debian policy on noclobber assumptions
> in packaging scripts; however, this hasn't caused problems before
> (though I haven't been using Debian long).

I also couldn't find anything; I will ask on appropriate lists, and then
decide to which package the clone of the bug should be reassigned.

> I can see 3 resolutions:
> 1: use >| to force clobbering
[...]
> Option #1 (use >| to explicitly clobber temporary files) seems the
> simplest, safest and most correct (we do want to explicitly clobber it),
> and shouldn't break anything.

I will do this. I won't be able to upload a new version very soon; I
assume it is okay for you to fix the script manually on your machine?

> It also occurs in docbook-dsssl (1.78-5) -- I think it's the same bug (I
> get the same "can't overwrite" error, though there it's not used in a
> mktemp context, though it probably should be).

Once I can refer to a thread on -devel or so, and there is consensus
that this is a bug, I may open a bug against docbook-dsssl. Can I set
the submitter to you?

Regards, Frank
-- 
Frank Küster
Inst. f. Biochemie der Univ. Zürich
Debian Developer