Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 22:31:33 -0400 From: Nathan Hawkins <utsl@quic.net> To: "Adam C. Migus" <adam@migus.org> Cc: freebsd-arch@freebsd.org Subject: Re: config files in packages (Re: (proposal) new flag forpkg_delete) Message-ID: <20030906023133.GA4913@quic.net> In-Reply-To: <49222.192.168.4.2.1062744486.squirrel@mail.migus.org> References: <20030903191427.GE541@xtanbul> <20030903200658.GD51382@rot13.obsecurity.org> <49222.192.168.4.2.1062744486.squirrel@mail.migus.org>
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On Fri, Sep 05, 2003 at 02:48:06AM -0400, Adam C. Migus wrote: > > Kris Kennaway said: > > On Wed, Sep 03, 2003 at 03:14:28PM -0400, The Anarcat wrote: > > > >> Debian adopted what I think is an elegant solution to this > >> problem. The configuration files are marked as such in the > >> package. When deinstalling, you must explicitely ask it if you > >> want > >> the configuration files to be removed. To be exact, dpkg marks the package as removed, but having configuration files installed. It then keeps all the files describing the package, which includes the lists of files installed by it. Config files are removed only when the user uses the purge option, at which time all traces of the package go away. > This approach works great assuming every port is well written, but > every port isn't well written. Considering absence of this behavior > a bug is fine if you want a million PR's, a lot of discouraged port > maintainers and, if/when they do get fixed, a lot of newbies > wondering why their FreeBSD boxes have a million -dist files but > they're Linux boxes don't yet packages always seem to install and > uninstall cleanly. It has worked very well for Debian. Debian also has a large bug database... But bugs WRT package installation, removal or upgrades are considered release critical. Such bugs must be fixed, or the package removed before a release. Helps weed out worthless crap packages, and ensures that things you need (ssh or apache come to mind) get fixed pretty quickly. > Also, FWIW Digital UNIX used to keep a copy of default configuration > files around as .proto..<filename> IIRC for reference and many > administrators removed them siting quite a few different reasons for > doing so. Once a -dist file is removed, the pkg_delete and > subsequent package creates (if you use portupgrade -Rap for example) > will fail due to a missing package file. One of the nice points about Debian's approach: once the config files are listed separately, it's easier to have package deletion ignore missing config files. > I agree with the something like the Debian approach but perhaps with > more emphasis on comparison and automation than user interaction. > It takes the worry out of the hands of the port maintainers, it > keeps users from screwing up their installations, it's been done and > shown to work it can be improved by offering a diff feature. Actually, dpkg gives me options to diff or edit in that situation. As a Debian developer, I can tell you that it's very easy: just make a list of configuration files installed by the package. As an administrator, I'm completely happy. Debian has never eaten a config file on me. ---Nathan
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