Package: cdebconf Version: 0.81 Severity: important debconf, debconf-communicate, and dpkg-reconfigure all attempt to save the debconf database to disk in a signal handler. Words fail me while trying to express how wrong this is, and I'm amazed we haven't had more reports of data corruption, crashes, etc. I ran into this hard while testing cdebconf 0.80 with Linux 2.6.12 on amd64 and powerpc, where it caused various scripts called from debian-installer-startup to hang waiting on a futex. I applied a partial fix (correcting only the SIGCHLD handler) in cdebconf 0.81, but the rest needs to be cleaned up too.
Following my SIGCHLD handler fix, we should simply set a volatile sig_atomic_t variable which is occasionally checked in the main control flow; either that or very carefully block signals everywhere that might write to the database in memory or otherwise collide with the signal handler, but I think the first approach is simpler and more robust. -- Colin Watson [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
