On 8/5/21 12:17 am, Kris Deugau wrote:
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
Hi,
So, any user installable application extension/plugin which has
executables and supporting data is left behind on the system when the
owning application is removed or updated using the system installation
process? This is accepted behaviour? Shouldn't applications clean up
after themselves and not leave user systems with junk lying around?
Jon
