Package: initscripts Version: 2.95-4 Severity: wishlist Dear Maintainer,
Please consider taking over the hwclock related init script (et.al.) from the util-linux package. These init scripts aren't really related to util-linux in any way, they are just the old (sysvinit) *policy* on how to sync the RTC. Unrelated to init systems other inits have chosen to push for another policy (since syncing system clock to hardware clock has been deemed to not be a good solution). This means several packages currently carry overrides to disable the policy shipped in util-linux when not using sysvinit. Basically, the situation is unnessecarily complex and things would be much simpler if the sysvinit policy lived in src:sysvinit. As a bonus this would also mean it's easy for sysvinit maintainers to work on any potential changes / modernizations of their RTC policy. (This would also bring the util-linux package closer to being a "mechanism, not policy" package as I think it should only provide tools and leave it up to others to decide how those tools are used.) I would thus propose that the src:sysvinit package picks up the policy related bits and could for example ship them in the initscripts package. This includes: * /etc/init.d/hwclock.sh * /etc/default/hwclock * the /lib/udev/hwclock-set script and the related udev rule file /lib/udev/rules.d/85-hwclock.rules. BEWARE! That the files under /etc are considered 'conffiles' by dpkg and need special attention to be correctly handled (in a policy compliant way). Please use extra caution and make sure changes are thoroughly reviewed before uploading. (The src:sysvinit didn't have any conffiles in the package last I looked, but rather used a home-brew system to handle it without involving dpkg which is why I'm pointing this out for people who don't have previous experience with how many gotchas there can be related to conffiles.) I think a change such as this should be worked on early in a release cycle which is why I'm filing this bug report now. If work to implement this happens very soon I will offer to lend a hand as a reviewer and could potentially also handle the util-linux side of things (as moving the files will likely need a coordinated upload of both src:sysvinit and src:util-linux). Things that might be useful to look into but should in my opinion be handled as separate issues: - actually modernizing the policy (this bug report is fixed when the ownership is transfered). - /etc/default/hwclock likely have options that are currently or possibly in a not to distant future non-functional as the hwclock tool has changed in ways that makes certain old obscure workarounds no longer applicable and other reasons. Regards, Andreas Henriksson
