tag 225359 + wontfix thanks On Mon, Dec 29, 2003 at 01:27:56AM +0100, Bastian Kleineidam wrote: > Package: xbase-clients > Version: 4.2.1-14 > Severity: minor > Tags: patch > > the xinitrc is a shell script, so I think it should be executable. > I noticed this when using the Knoppix script to start the X client/server > on boot, it tries to execute this script. > Attached is a patch. I am afraid I am not going to be able to fix this bug. Making things in /etc executable gets me harassed by some of my fellow developers. Please see: http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=97671 and http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=143825 for further details (yes, that is quite a bit of reading material). Debian Policy, section 10.7.1, defines a "configuration file" as A file that affects the operation of a program, or provides site- or host-specific information, or otherwise customizes the behavior of a program. Typically, configuration files are intended to be modified by the system administrator (if needed or desired) to conform to local policy or to provide more useful site-specific behavior. I believe this accurately describes xinitrc's relationship to the xinit program, therefore I conclude that xinitrc should live in /etc. Whether all shell scripts should be executable is another quesion, and not one I'm in the mood to debate while policy police like those seen in the above bug reports are on the prowl. Perhaps you could make a policy proposal to the debian-policy mailing list to clarify this situation? The Debian Policy manual has sections (or sub-sections) on "Binaries" and "Configuration Files", but not "Executables" per se. (Since a script is not an object file, it's not a "binary".) I'd be happy to act on this bug one way or the other once these ambiguities are resolved. Thanks for your report. -- G. Branden Robinson | There's something wrong if you're Debian GNU/Linux | always right. branden@debian.org | -- Glasow's Law http://people.debian.org/~branden/ |
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