Package: dpkg Version: 1.22.11 Severity: wishlist X-Debbugs-Cc: [email protected]
Dear Guillem, Reportbug uses `dpkg --status $package` to collect information about a package, including the list of configuration files. It assumes that the output in each line under Conffiles is always a space-separated tuple of filename and md5sum. However, this is not always true, as indicated in https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1080336 What should users of the dpkg --status output expect regarding the conffiles list? E.g., how many fields can there be on each line? Why are non-existent files sometimes included in the list? See https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1085130 for an example of confusion. When can removed configuration files be expected to no longer be listed? I'm wondering if reportbug should be changed to notice when the remove-on-upgrade flag is printed and then ignore the corresponding line. Clarification or advice is appreciated. Would the deb-conffiles man page be a good place to add clarifying documentation? Thanks!
