On Wed, Aug 04, 1999 at 09:33:46AM +1000, Anthony Towns wrote: > > > I second this proposal, but please change the word "dependency" > > > by "Pre-Dependency" (otherwise I would formally object ;-). > > > Rationale: base-files (>=whatever) must be unpacked and *configured* > > > before *any* package using /var/mail is *unpacked*, because the symlink > > > /var/mail -> /var/spool/mail will be handled in base-files' postinst. > > Obviously and I support this addition. > > I'm confused. No packages install things into /var/spool/mail or /var/mail > directly, do they? Nor can I see why they'd want to use this as part of > their preinst or even postinst. Neither exim nor mutt include /var/anything > in their dpkg -L output. > > Why does /var/mail have to exist before those packages are unpacked? > > Before they're actually *executed*, I could believe, but that only > requires an ordinary dependency, no?
MTA's are started immediately on configuration of the package. If you do not start the program in postinst (say a MUA) all you need is a dependency. If the program gets started before that, it has to pre-depend or deal gracefully with the not-yet-installed case. It could always fork a watch process that waits for dpkg to finish, but that would be bad for other reasons. (remember that xaw-wrappers bug that caused configuration of other packages to not happen until you got a fixed version?) If you start it in postinst, pre-dep base-files. I probably should add post an ammended proposal addressing all this shouldn't I? -- Joseph Carter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Debian GNU/Linux developer GnuPG: 2048g/3F9C2A43 - 20F6 2261 F185 7A3E 79FC 44F9 8FF7 D7A3 DCF9 DAB3 PGP 2.6: 2048R/50BDA0ED - E8 D6 84 81 E3 A8 BB 77 8E E2 29 96 C9 44 5F BE -------------------------------------------------------------------------- <kira> is a surgical war where you go give the foreign troops nose jobs?
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