Date: 16 Apr 2003 19:08:17 -0400 From: Colin Walters <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Package: laptop-net Severity: serious I just installed "laptop-net", becuase it looked similar to something I'd like to work on. The first thing it asked me was whether I wanted to "manage" its configuration file with Debconf, and it defaulted to "yes"! This behavior needs to stop, now. It is a violation of Policy, section 11.7.3, which states that local changes must be preserved during a package upgrade. Debconf is NOT a license to overwrite user's configurations! I agree. A simple look at the list of bugs for laptop-net should make it clear that the configuration management has some real problems. The root of the problem is that the config files are badly designed -- or rather, not designed at all. This is just programming by example gone bad. I have planned to fix this for some time, but it needs a few days of concentrated effort, and until recently that wasn't possible. First of all, these questions CANNOT default to yes. Agreed. I propose a different solution to this problem, which conforms much more with policy, while still allowing debconf to be used as much as possible. [...] I'd rather fix this properly; what you suggest is a workaround. What I consider a proper fix is to redefine the configuration files so that they can be parsed. I have learned, the hard way, that using shell scripts for configuration files is a bad idea. Now, all I need is enough time... Chris
