Bug#376050: please do not claim to "Manage permissions with debconf"

[Frank Küster <frank@kuesterei.ch>]

Ralf Stubner <ralf.stubner@physik.uni-erlangen.de> wrote:

> On Mon, Jul 03, 2006 at 17:51 +0200, Frank Küster wrote:
>> Okay, I worked along Ralf's older mail:
>> 
>> http://lists.debian.org/debian-tetex-maint/2006/05/msg00531.html
>> 
>> . add appropriate mktex.cnf in /u/s/texmf/web2c (or /e/texmf/web2c?)
>> 
>>   Done, in /u/s/texmf/.
>
> Great! A minor suggestion, which would simplify moving back to a
> global font cache:
>
> Index: mktex.cnf
> ===================================================================
> --- mktex.cnf   (revision 1476)
> +++ mktex.cnf   (working copy)
> @@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
> +# global font cache
> +#: ${MT_FEATURES=appendonlydir:varfonts}
> +# per user font cache 
>  : ${MT_FEATURES=appendonlydir:texmfvar}
>  #: ${MODE=ljfour}
>  #: ${BDPI=600}

Yes, good idea.  I checked it in with a further comment:

+# global font cache, also change VARTEXFONTS in 05TeXMF.cnf
+#: ${MT_FEATURES=appendonlydir:varfonts}
+# per user font cache 

> BTW, what happens if one uses 'appendonlydir' and 'texmfvar' together?
> In my tests I had always used only 'texmfvar'.

Nothing that I'd noticed...  I guess you get a (useless) sticky bit in
your TEXMFVAR, but in the case of /tmp/texfonts it might have some minor
usefulness. 

> Suggestions:
>
> Index: NEWS.Debian
> ===================================================================
> --- NEWS.Debian (revision 1476)
> +++ NEWS.Debian (working copy)
[...]
> Index: README.Debian
> ===================================================================
> --- README.Debian       (revision 1476)
> +++ README.Debian       (working copy)
[...]
> Shall I commit these changes?

Yes, please, very good.

>> . test updates and font creation under different circumstances
>> 
>>   Done, including the case of an existing /etc/texmf/web2c/mktex.cnf. 
>
> Could you share how you did these tests? Thanks.

- log into pbuilder chroot

- install adduser; adduser test with password "bla"

- su - test

- cp array.dtx into the chroot, run latex array.dtx and watch how
  "dvips array.dvi" creates fonts in /home/test/.texmf-var/

- logout to become root again, "rm -r /home/test/.texmf-var", "chmod a-w
  /home/test"

- su - test

- run dvips again and watch how it creates fonts in /tmp/texfonts.

Just not creating a user and run as root does not work - it thinks my
home is /home/frank and, since I'm root, simply creates /home/frank
inside the chroot and subsequently /home/frank/.texmf-var/, even if I
removed the write bits from /home for everybody...

With an existing /etc/texmf/web2c/mktex.cnf, I just tested the
installation and got a debconf note; I didn't care to try what happened
if I ignore it.

Regards, Frank
-- 
Frank Küster
Single Molecule Spectroscopy, Protein Folding @ Inst. f. Biochemie, Univ. Zürich
Debian Developer (teTeX)