Bug#487630: SUCCESS after removal of 00tetex.cnf (was: Re: Bug#487630: Bug 487630 exists also in version 2007.dfsg.2-3 (and version 2007.dfsg.2-4))
On Wed, 2008-11-05 at 23:29 +0100, Hilmar Preusse wrote:
> On 04.11.08 Omer Zak (w1@zak.co.il) wrote:
> > According to dpkg -S, 00tetex.cnf belongs to no package. The
> > laptop has been running Debian Testing for few years (Sarge
> > Testing, then Etch Testing, and now Lenny Testing), so it is
> > probable that one of the versions of the package, which originally
> > owned it, was uninstalled (or upgraded, rendering the file
> > unneeded) but neglected to remove this file.
> >
> Well, the postinst- and preinst scripts of teTeX in Debian are/were
> rather a nightmare regarding "which files have to be
> removed/fixed/changed to resurrect mistakes made before". You may
> have a look at them just for fun. I guess you run once a testing
> version of teTeX, which was broken and we didn't make a fix for this
> special version.
I am glad to see that the general problem is being addressed and the
answer is not just "remove by hand the offending 00tetex.cnf file".
> Your 00tetex.cnf does not have the magic
> "# -_- DebPkgProvidedMaps -_-" snipped, hence is it read when
> creating the fmtutil.cnf.
>
> To get a fix I suggest that the preinst script of an important
> package (tex-common ?) greps for that snippet through all files in
> /etc/texmf/fmt.d/ and renames all files, which do not have it (e.g.
> append the extension "unused") and inform the end user about it.
Renaming the unused files and warning the user about them would do it.
However, identifying them by grepping for the magic snippet won't work.
It is possible that a future broken package fails to remove such a file,
and it will remain in the filesystem with the magic snippet, and then my
problem with 00tetex.cnf will recur.
> Any further ideas?
A tool (dpkg-* or apt-*) for auditing the files in the non-*/local/* and
non-/opt/* filesystems, finding files not belonging to any package, and
advising the user how to deal with them.
Packages, which own subdirectories with names like */*.d/, may provide
special scripts and instructions for dealing with files dropped there by
other packages (and orphaned by them), and manually by the sysadmin.
I think that the subject is now more suitable for one of Debian's
mailing lists than for this bug report - please advise which mailing
list, and I'll post there a summary of the bug and the discussion so
far.
--- Omer
--
Did you shave a yak today?
My own blog is at http://www.zak.co.il/tddpirate/
My opinions, as expressed in this E-mail message, are mine alone.
They do not represent the official policy of any organization with which
I may be affiliated in any way.
WARNING TO SPAMMERS: at http://www.zak.co.il/spamwarning.html
Reply to: