handling of config files

[Norbert Preining <preining@logic.at>]

Hi all!

Not for this upload, but for the next (or one later) I would like to
discuss the handling of config files (again). IN
common.functions.postinst one finds:
    if [ -f "$cfgfile.preinst-copy" ]; then
      echo "Preserving user changes to $cfgfile"
      # this only works as intended as long as the shipped version
      # does not change!
      mv -f "$cfgfile" "$cfgfile.dpkg-new"
      mv -f "$cfgfile.preinst-copy" "$cfgfile"
    fi

The comment is important. Yes. We are copying an old config file, and
dpkg *never* proposes to replace with package maintainer options etc.
This is bad. Considering that for the next stable we will quite sure
have TL2008 or later, I suppose that the config files *WILL* have
changed.

Let's check the config files we want to handle:
/etc/texmf/dvipdfm/config/config
/etc/texmf/dvips/config/*
/etc/texmf/texdoctk/texdocrc.defaults
	all these are just simple take overs from texlive 2005 in 
	/etc/texmf/texlive
	so we could *copy* them to the new location (if changed), echo
	a warning that is has changed and that debconf will ask ...
	then dpkg will ask the usual changed questions

/etc/texmf/xdvi/xdvi.cfg
	this needs some magic, as usual, haven't thought about it

Of course the error unwind procedure has to be changed, too, but in
general I would prefer such an approach.

Comments.

Best wishes

Norbert

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Dr. Norbert Preining <preining@logic.at>                    Università di Siena
Debian Developer <preining@debian.org>                         Debian TeX Group
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