Package: dpkg
Version: 1.20.9
I recognised just recently that dpkg is not able to gracefully replace
files on FAT partitions, e.g. when reinstalling or upgrading a package.
It seems to try creating a file link as backup, while FAT does not
supports links:
-------
unable to make backup link of './path/to/file' before installing new
version: Operation not permitted
-------
This seems to be an expected behaviour, at least I found multiple cases
where e.g. SBC OS images are shipped with a dedicated /boot FAT
partition, and measures have been taken to remove existing files from
/boot before kernel upgrades or via dpkg-divert loops.
Of course Debian is a Linux distribution and the root filesystem needs
to support UNIX permissions, symlinks and hard links (?) for the system
to function properly, but it is not uncommon to mount FAT partitions
into the system, especially using a FAT partition for /boot is required
for some ARM SBCs to boot and beneficial otherwise to allow fixing boot
configuration issues or pre-configuring the system as well from Windows
or macOS systems.
So my question is whether it wouldn't be feasible to handle the
replacement of package files on FAT partitions (and other filesystem
types with no link support) gracefully. A backup could be created
differently if this is seen mandatory.
Best regards,
MichaIng
