On Fri, Sep 03, 2021 at 08:03:23AM -0400, Greg Wooledge wrote: > On Fri, Sep 03, 2021 at 07:57:44AM -0400, Roberto C. Sánchez wrote: > > On Fri, Sep 03, 2021 at 11:14:45AM +0200, Harald Dunkel wrote: > > > Hi folks, > > > > > > how can I tell the debhelper scripts to not install home directories > > > for system services in /home (managed on a remote host in my environment), > > > but to use /var/lib instead? > > > > > That sounds like potentially buggy behavior. Can you give a specific > > example? > > Out of curiosity, I checked my system to see if there were any system > users with home directories under /home. The only one I found is "ntp". > > Then I looked at the ntp.postinst script, and it has this: > > adduser --system --quiet --ingroup ntp --no-create-home --home /nonexistent > ntp > > So presumably my ntp user with /home/ntp as its home directory is from > an older Debian release, and if it had been created under bullseye, it > would look different. > How old is your system? I just checked a machine that I initially as a Woody (3.0) system in 2001 and there is no ntp user directory under /home. I also just fired up a fresh wheezy chroot and the ntp postinst has this:
adduser --system --quiet --ingroup ntp --no-create-home ntp Did you perhaps modify your ntp config at a time when you might have been limited on space under /var? > Granted, I have only my specific subset of Debian packages installed, > and there could be others that still make system user home directories > in /home. We'll have to await further details from the OP. > As a Debian Developer, I would consider it bad form to go creating things under /home from a package's maintainer script, though that does not appear to be a specific policy violation. In my own case, I don't locate user home directories under /home for most users, so this sort of behavior would very likely have triggered jumped out at me. I have not in my recollection encountered a Debian package that has done this. I too would be interested to know more details from the OP. Regards, -Roberto -- Roberto C. Sánchez
