Jon Gough wrote:
The user install plugins can vary between very simple with a config file
and a couple of icons up to complex with large data >1GB and hundreds of
icons.
So, if debs must not touch files in $HOME but is allowed to create files
there (is that not a contradiction?) where else could the 'system' files
be placed?
The actual .deb *package* (by way of the programs that install/uninstall
packages) may not make changes to files under $HOME.
The program *within* a .deb may (and in many cases is expected to)
create. alter, and/or delete some selection of files in $HOME.
If a plugin is to be considered a "system" addition, it must be packaged
(either with the main program, or as a separate optional package).
Otherwise it's not a system file so far as the packaging system is
concerned.
Is there a process that allows the deb to 'clean up' the application
when the application is uninstalled, in particular any 'install'
artefacts that have been installed by plugins?
Not really. The Firefox package, for instance, won't clear up the
leftover cache data, bookmarks, and other configuration from users'
$HOME when uninstalled - including things like addons the user may have
installed direct from the Mozilla addons site.
-kgd
