Package: usrmerge Version: 30+nmu1 Severity: serious Justification: essential packages should not fail to install Control: affects -1 + src:mmdebstrap
If you happen to be on an overlayfs filesystem (doesn't have to be /) and then install usrmerge into a chroot on that filesystem (for instance by doing using mmdebstrap), then usrmerge.postinst fails due to the check for overlayfs. In this case, conversion is actually desired and would actually work on overlayfs (since all the files reside on the upper layer exclusively). usrmerge really shouldn't fail in this situation. This is not limited to mmdebstrap. If I happen to create a bullseye chroot (entirely inside the overlayfs) and then upgrade it to bookworm, usrmerge will be pulled and fails in the same way. I recommend turning the check around. First actually attempt to perform the conversion. If that happens to fails, check for overlayfs and conditionally emit the helpful message. That way, conversion actually is performed when it can be performed. When it cannot be performed, we cannot do anything about it anyway. Helmut
