Bug#325009: state of #325009

[Ian Jackson <ian@davenant.greenend.org.uk>]

Eugene V. Lyubimkin writes ("Bug#325009: state of #325009"):
> While first part of your report is correct (thanks for it), the
> other part "all other code in apt should be thoroughly inspected" is
> just not feasible, just as "make apt bug-clean forever".

I suggested an approach that could be used to do it
semi-automatically:

  for example, by trying to get a compiler to report all
  places where a `boolean' return value is ignored.

Nowadays GCC has features that can generate warnings when a return
value is ignored when it should not be.  A way to do the review I
suggest would be to annotate the declarations all functions in apt
than can fail in that way, and then work through the resulting error
messages.

There will be many such messages - but most of them will be bugs.

Surely it is better to have one bug report in the BTS with the whole
class of them, rather than trying to deal with them piecemeal.

Ian.