Hi, [Please CC the replies to me. Thanks.]
Here's my analysis of the dpkg-divert problem (bugs #237509 and #241339/#241463). In summary, I believe that dpkg-divert does nothing wrong. However, additional documentation of handling diversions on upgrades (particularly, their removal) seems to be necessary. For those too lazy to read through the whole message, possible solutions are given in the end. Experiments in the unstable chroot. The /etc/apt/sources.list file: deb ftp://ftp3.nrc.ca/debian sid main contrib non-free deb ftp://ftp3.nrc.ca/debian testing main contrib non-free deb http://snapshot.debian.net/archive pool desktop-base deb-src http://snapshot.debian.net/archive pool desktop-base The problem manifests itself when the file is first diverted, then attempt is made to remove a diversion during upgrade. It can be illustrated in desktop-base case by first creating a file /usr/share/pixmaps/splash/gnome-splash.png (which can come from a gnome-session, for example): [EMAIL PROTECTED]:/# mkdir /usr/share/pixmaps/splash [EMAIL PROTECTED]:/# touch /usr/share/pixmaps/splash/gnome-splash.png Then install the older version of desktop-base: [EMAIL PROTECTED]:/# apt-get install desktop-base=0.3.10 Reading Package Lists... Done Building Dependency Tree... Done Suggested packages: gnome kde wmaker Recommended packages: www-browser The following NEW packages will be installed: desktop-base 0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded. Need to get 0B/543kB of archives. After unpacking 688kB of additional disk space will be used. Selecting previously deselected package desktop-base. (Reading database ... 10695 files and directories currently installed.) Unpacking desktop-base (from .../desktop-base_0.3.10_all.deb) ... Adding `diversion of /usr/share/pixmaps/splash/gnome-splash.png to /usr/share/pixmaps/splash/gnome-splash.png.orig by desktop-base' Setting up desktop-base (0.3.10) ... The diversion of the file has been added: [EMAIL PROTECTED]:/# dpkg-divert --list diversion of /usr/share/pixmaps/splash/gnome-splash.png to /usr/share/pixmaps/splash/gnome-splash.png.orig by desktop-base [EMAIL PROTECTED]:/# The modifications are seen in the directory as well: [EMAIL PROTECTED]:/# ls -al /usr/share/pixmaps/splash/ total 8 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Apr 5 03:10 . drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Apr 5 03:10 .. lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 30 Apr 5 03:10 gnome-splash.png -> /etc/alternatives/gnome-splash -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Apr 5 03:10 gnome-splash.png.orig [EMAIL PROTECTED]:/# Now we go ahead and upgrade desktop-base to 0.3.11: [EMAIL PROTECTED]:/# apt-get install desktop-base=0.3.11 Reading Package Lists... Done Building Dependency Tree... Done Suggested packages: gnome kde wmaker Recommended packages: www-browser The following packages will be upgraded: desktop-base 1 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded. Need to get 0B/543kB of archives. After unpacking 45.1kB disk space will be freed. (Reading database ... 10721 files and directories currently installed.) Preparing to replace desktop-base 0.3.10 (using .../desktop-base_0.3.11_all.deb) ... Removing `diversion of /usr/share/pixmaps/splash/gnome-splash.png to /usr/share/pixmaps/splash/gnome-splash.png.orig by desktop-base' dpkg-divert: rename involves overwriting `/usr/share/pixmaps/splash/gnome-splash.png' with different file `/usr/share/pixmaps/splash/gnome-splash.png.orig', not allowed dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/desktop-base_0.3.11_all.deb (--unpack): subprocess pre-installation script returned error exit status 2 Errors were encountered while processing: /var/cache/apt/archives/desktop-base_0.3.11_all.deb E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1) Obviously, the upgrade was not handled very well. The preinst of the dekstop-base 0.3.11 reads: if [ "${1}" = "upgrade" ]; then if dpkg --compare-versions ${2} lt 0.3.11 && dpkg --compare-versions ${2} gt 0.3.5; then dpkg-divert --rename \ --remove /usr/share/pixmaps/splash/gnome-splash.png update-alternatives --remove gnome-splash \ /usr/share/images/desktop-base/Splash-Debian.png update-alternatives --remove gnome-splash \ /usr/share/images/desktop-base/Splash-EvolvingTux.png update-alternatives --remove gnome-splash \ /usr/share/images/desktop-base/Splash-Debian_red.png fi fi The problem is, that both files gnome-splash.png.orig and gnome-splash.png are present in the /usr/share/pixmaps/splash. dpkg-divert is instructed to basically move the original (.orig) file in place of the diverted one and refuses to do it (I do not think it is a bug). It is more of a documentation problem. I see two possible ways around the problem: 1. Before removing a diversion, remove the file (in this case /usr/share/pixmaps/splash/gnome-splash.png), if it is still exists. Then diversion removal will go smoothly. This is essentially equivalent to letting dpkg-divert to overwrite files when removing diversions, which does not seem as such a good idea (even though I cannot immediately come up with good arguments, why). 2. Document the necessity of properly handling diversions on upgrades. So far policy contains only a mention, that the diversions should be created in preinst and removed in postrm. The problem is that the postrm is not run on upgrades. The cleanest way out of this problem (IMO) is to advise maintainers to remove all the diversions, created by the package in prerm, if it is called with "upgrade" option, and recreate them in new preinst, if necessary. Removal of the diversion in this case is accomplished by just not recreating it in the preinst of the new version. Best regards, Jurij Smakov [EMAIL PROTECTED] Key: http://www.wooyd.org/pgpkey/ KeyID: C99E03CC
