Bug#34296: etc/apt/sources.list is a conffile
On 11 Mar 1999, Rob Browning wrote:
> Santiago Vila <sanvila@unex.es> writes:
>
> > I think it is much better to prompt the user only when the format of
> > the file changes, instead of doing it always.
>
> As I understand it. That is *exactly* how conffiles work. If the
> upstream md5sum hasn't changed, then dpkg won't ask you about it. [...]
Sorry, I didn't explain well. I was referring to the "format" of the file,
i.e. the allowed internal structure of it.
It may happen, of course, that the file provided inside the .deb changes,
but if I already changed my own version to point to a local mirror, it is
unlikely that I want to use again the sources.list pointing to a far
mirror site in another continent, unless the new APT does not accept
my old file and I have to change its internal format.
A few examples in which having the configuration file to be generated in
the postinst has had a clear benefit:
/etc/papersize
Once you have chosen your desired paper format, it is a good thing that
dpkg does not ask you over and over again about this file. Since Europe
uses "a4" mainly and the US uses letter (I think), there is not a common
"default" configuration file which is valid for everybody, and it
makes sense for it to be generated in the postinst when it does not exist.
/etc/gpm.conf
Once you have chosen your desired mouse type, it is a good thing
that dpkg does not ask you over and over again about this file.
Since there are many different mouse types, there is not a reasonable
default valid for everybody and it makes sense for this file to be
generated by the postinst when it does not exist.
Of course, I'm not saying that every configuration file should be
like these ones, but I think that the current /etc/apt/sources.list
is of the type of file that, when generated in the postinst, would
reduce the amount of total prompting dpkg does when upgrading.
I think there are two issues to consider here:
1. Is http://http.us.debian.org a reasonable default for *everybody* or
just for the US?
2. Is the format of the file expected to change sometime soon?
Thanks.
--
"e524052215260f897429db463f2d20f6" (a truly random sig)
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