Stephane Bortzmeyer writes:
> Many other suggestions have been made to solve the problem. It is not easy.
> You have to find:
>
> - a good scheme (think of X11-only installers, without a tty),
> - implement it (i.e. modify 3000 packages' {pre,post}{rm,inst}.
Nonsense. The solution is quite easy. Modify the routine that
handles the installers so it *also* looks for installers whose names
start with 0 (the single digit 0). If one is found, do not look for a
name without a zero (to ensure that you don't find the same script
twice). Process the installers sorted by name and dependency. At the
same time (actually, before *or* after), instruct package creators to
create a hard link to their installers ONLY if the installer will
never ask questions. Give that link the same name prepended by a
zero.
No coordination is needed, and no flag day need occur. People just
start doing things the new way ("ln foo.pre 0foo.pre"; echo "done").
After a year or so, modify the specification so that installers that
do not ask questions must start with a zero.
Actually, the right way to solve this problem is for Debian to adopt
webmin (http://webmin.com), and say "installers do not ask questions,
period. If you need configuration, write a webmin package." But
obviously that's a lot more work.
--
-russ nelson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://crynwr.com/~nelson
Crynwr sells support for free software | PGPok | Government schools are so
521 Pleasant Valley Rd. | +1 315 268 1925 voice | bad that any rank amateur
Potsdam, NY 13676-3213 | +1 315 268 9201 FAX | can outdo them. Homeschool!
