On Wed, 27 Apr 2016 11:41:14 +0200 Martin Pitt <mp...@debian.org> wrote: > Hello Aurelien, > > Aurelien Jarno [2016-04-27 11:13 +0200]: > > Unfortunately it seems a lot of software are actually using > > /etc/timezone to configure the time zone. When switching to a symlink > > this made people unhappy, see for example bug#813226. This bug points to > > the following query: > > > > https://github.com/search?q=%2Fetc%2Ftimezone+dpkg-reconfigure+noninteractive+tzdata&type=Code&utf8=%E2%9C%93 > > Interesting, thanks for that link. It seems the majority is writing > that file for a subsequent dpkg-reconfigure, but I've seen a few reads > as well. It seems over time a lot of software out there has adopted > this Debianism. > > Wrt. to #813226, I admittedly don't understand why /etc/localtime > being a file or symlink is in any way related to which of > /etc/localtime vs. /etc/timezone should have priority over the other > on reconfiguration. I mean, the *.config scripts surely may treat them > differently, but that's just an implementation detail, not a > conceptual/design problem? > > Software (both tzdata itself and also other things reading/changing > it) needs to get along with /etc/localtime being a symlink either way, > even before tzdata 2016a-1. > > > What we can probably do is to stop looking or creating /etc/timezone > > if it doesn't exist, but keep updating it if it exists. What do you > > think? > > That might be cleaner in situations where someone explicitly removes > it, but a lot less useful to avoid the redundancy problem. > > Anyway, it seems to me that this is too deeply entrenched in the > software world by now, so I figure is is a case for 'wontfix' and > just closing this report? > > Thanks! > > Martin
Hi, I'm looking at this again, because handling /etc/timezone is one of the last large technical debt patches that we carry in Debian for src:systemd, and we want to drop it for Trixie. The idea is to add a tmpfiles.d entry in the systemd package that unconditionally deletes /etc/timezone if present. If someone wants to keep using it, they can simply override the tmpfiles.d entry with the usual mechanisms. So, could you please reconsider the proposal to stop creating it if it doesn't exist (but keep updating if it does) in the tzdata postinst as above for Trixie? Thanks! -- Kind regards, Luca Boccassi
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