Bug#822733: tzdata: Drop /etc/timezone

[Luca Boccassi]

On Sun, 29 Jan 2023 at 14:45, Michael Biebl  wrote:
>
> Am 29.01.2023 um 15:38 schrieb Luca Boccassi:
> > On Sun, 29 Jan 2023, 13:15 Michael Biebl,  > > wrote:
> >
> > Am 28.01.2023 um 02:12 schrieb Luca Boccassi:
> >  > 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?
> >
> > I'm a bit confused: If you forcefully want to delete /etc/timezone
> > via a
> > tmpfiles snippet, why let tzdata update an existing /etc/timezone?
> >
> >
> > Because it can be overridden as mentioned, so in case there are unknown
> > corner cases where it's still needed, a drop-in can be added to avoid
> > deleting the file and it will still get updated. In the future we can
> > then consider removing this as well.
> >
>
> I would prefer, if all this is handled within tzdata.
> - It should stop creating /etc/timezone
> - It should delete /etc/timezone on upgrades as a one-time action
> - If users manually create the file afterwards (say touch /etc/timezone)
> a dpkg-reconfigure tzdata would update the file.
>
> This should all be under tzdata's control.

Without the tmpfiles.d in src:systemd, we can't drop the patch for one
release I'd think?

Bug#822733: tzdata: Drop /etc/timezone

[Michael Biebl]

Am 29.01.2023 um 15:38 schrieb Luca Boccassi:
On Sun, 29 Jan 2023, 13:15 Michael Biebl, > wrote:


Am 28.01.2023 um 02:12 schrieb Luca Boccassi:
 > 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?

I'm a bit confused: If you forcefully want to delete /etc/timezone
via a
tmpfiles snippet, why let tzdata update an existing /etc/timezone?


Because it can be overridden as mentioned, so in case there are unknown 
corner cases where it's still needed, a drop-in can be added to avoid 
deleting the file and it will still get updated. In the future we can 
then consider removing this as well.




I would prefer, if all this is handled within tzdata.
- It should stop creating /etc/timezone
- It should delete /etc/timezone on upgrades as a one-time action
- If users manually create the file afterwards (say touch /etc/timezone) 
a dpkg-reconfigure tzdata would update the file.


This should all be under tzdata's control.

Michael


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Bug#822733: tzdata: Drop /etc/timezone

[Luca Boccassi]

On Sun, 29 Jan 2023, 13:15 Michael Biebl,  wrote:

> Am 28.01.2023 um 02:12 schrieb Luca Boccassi:
> > 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?
>
> I'm a bit confused: If you forcefully want to delete /etc/timezone via a
> tmpfiles snippet, why let tzdata update an existing /etc/timezone?
>

Because it can be overridden as mentioned, so in case there are unknown
corner cases where it's still needed, a drop-in can be added to avoid
deleting the file and it will still get updated. In the future we can then
consider removing this as well.

>

Bug#822733: tzdata: Drop /etc/timezone

[Michael Biebl]

Am 28.01.2023 um 02:12 schrieb Luca Boccassi:

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?


I'm a bit confused: If you forcefully want to delete /etc/timezone via a 
tmpfiles snippet, why let tzdata update an existing /etc/timezone?


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