Re: preserving user changes while managing configuration files

2011-11-23 Thread Gergely Nagy
Dennis van Dok writes: > On 23-11-11 14:34, Arno Töll wrote: >> please mind the exact wording here. A "configuration file" is not >> the same as a "conffile" in Debian. Note, you are not allowed to >> modify a conffile at any time. > In the context of the maintainer scripts, I take it. ;-) > > [.

Re: preserving user changes while managing configuration files

2011-11-23 Thread Tony Houghton
On Wed, 23 Nov 2011 11:53:14 +0100 Dennis van Dok wrote: > On 23-11-11 10:27, Joseph Gunn wrote: > > > A popular way of accomplishing the task is to support > > "configuration subdirectories" > > > > It includes all "configuration files" in that directory. If you > > publish a name that you wil

Re: preserving user changes while managing configuration files

2011-11-23 Thread Dennis van Dok
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 On 23-11-11 14:34, Arno Töll wrote: > please mind the exact wording here. A "configuration file" is not > the same as a "conffile" in Debian. Note, you are not allowed to > modify a conffile at any time. In the context of the maintainer scripts, I take

Re: preserving user changes while managing configuration files

2011-11-23 Thread Arno Töll
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 Hello Dennis, On 23.11.2011 11:48, Dennis van Dok wrote: >> In case a sensible default is not possible, then ship without a config >> file, and offer to generate one based on debconf answers if the file >> does not exist. > > This sounds like a reaso

Re: preserving user changes while managing configuration files

2011-11-23 Thread Dennis van Dok
On 23-11-11 10:27, Joseph Gunn wrote: > A popular way of accomplishing the task is to support "configuration > subdirectories" > > It includes all "configuration files" in that directory. If you publish a > name that > you will _never_ use then people can add that one "as they wish". Dear Jose

Re: preserving user changes while managing configuration files

2011-11-23 Thread Dennis van Dok
Op 23-11-11 11:20, Gergely Nagy wrote: > I'd like to propose two other options: [...] > In case a sensible default is not possible, then ship without a config > file, and offer to generate one based on debconf answers if the file > does not exist. This sounds like a reasonable approach. I should

Re: preserving user changes while managing configuration files

2011-11-23 Thread Gergely Nagy
Dennis van Dok writes: > I have a question regarding configuration file changes. [..] > The way I've addressed this is by adding a special marker containing a > warning near the top of the configuration file ('warning: this file is > maintained by foo-configure; remove this line when editing.'),

Re: preserving user changes while managing configuration files

2011-11-23 Thread Alexander Reichle-Schmehl
Hi! Am 23.11.2011 09:18, schrieb Dennis van Dok: > My question is whether this method sufficiently implements the policy, > or if there are other ways to go about it. Hmmm... I'm not entirely sure about this. But you might want to look at the ucf utility and it's usage in maintainer scripts. T

Re: preserving user changes while managing configuration files

2011-11-23 Thread Joseph Gunn
On Wed, 23 Nov 2011 09:18:00 +0100 Dennis van Dok wrote: > Dear mentors, > > I have a question regarding configuration file changes. > > > My question is whether this method sufficiently implements the policy, > or if there are other ways to go about it. I am not a mentor, but i'll chime in an

preserving user changes while managing configuration files

2011-11-23 Thread Dennis van Dok
Dear mentors, I have a question regarding configuration file changes. I've written a utility to manage a fairly complicated configuration file. The utility is used in the postinst script, and debconf feeds it the right parameters. The utility can also be used stand-alone by the administrator. Of