On Tue, Jan 6, 2026 at 9:08 PM Xin LI <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > On Tue, Jan 6, 2026 at 3:47 PM Jose Luis Duran <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> On Tue, Jan 6, 2026 at 8:37 PM Xin LI <[email protected]> wrote: >> > >> > (Adding ngie@ who reported PR 219467 and Christos for visibility) >> > >> > On Tue, Jan 6, 2026 at 3:05 PM Jose Luis Duran <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> >> On Tue, Jan 6, 2026 at 7:37 PM Gleb Smirnoff <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> > >> >> > Hi, >> >> > >> >> > the recent mtree(1) import from NetBSD brought one change, that is a >> >> > POLA >> >> > violation and I would also question if the new behavior is desired. >> >> >> >> The change stems from: >> >> https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=219467 >> >> >> >> > Before the import 'mtree -c -R all' would leave 'type=' keywords, >> >> > despite '-R >> >> > all' asks for removing all keywords. The 'type=' is special, since this >> >> > keyword is required to reconstruct a new spec. >> >> > >> >> > In other words before the import this was working: >> >> > >> >> > mtree -c -R all | mtree -C >> >> > >> >> > Now this is broken. The above was standard idiom to compare installed >> >> > to tree >> >> > to a specification. Now the correct syntax to get the same behavior is >> >> > this: >> >> > >> >> > mtree -c -k type | mtree -C >> >> > >> >> > I'll let other to decide do we want to fix this POLA violation or not. >> >> > At least >> >> > this needs to be recorded in Release notes. >> >> >> >> Right, according to the manual page: >> >> >> >> -k <keywords>: Use the "type" keyword plus the specified (whitespace >> >> or comma separated) keywords instead of the current set of keywords. >> >> If "all" is specified, use all of the other keywords. If the "type" >> >> keyword is not desired, suppress it with "-R type". >> >> -R <keywords>: Remove the specified (whitespace or comma separated) >> >> keywords from the current set of keywords. If "all" is specified, >> >> remove all of the other keywords. >> >> >> >> So, the previous behavior was bugged. It now does what it says it should. >> > >> > >> > If we look at when the keyword feature was initially implemented (CSRG >> > r51884, 34 years ago), it's quite clear that "type" was special: F_TYPE is >> > always set regardless of what's specified with '-k' (mtree.c), and in >> > create.c the flag is the only one not being checked. IMHO "type" >> > represents a material difference in a file hierarchy specification, and >> > should always be present for non-plain files. >> > >> > It has been there for 34 years and legitimate users evidently rely on this >> > feature and the historical behavior should not be considered a bug. I >> > think we should restore the historical behavior and amend the >> > documentation to reflect it instead. >> >> I'm not opposed to reverting it, if we also change (something along the >> lines): >> >> 1. Remove: "If the type keyword is not desired, suppress it with -R >> type." from the "-k" flag description. > > > Yes I think NetBSD mtree.8,v 1.44 ( > https://mail-index.netbsd.org/source-changes/2006/09/12/0034.html ) should be > reverted. > >> >> 2. Add: "If 'all' is specified, remove all of the other keywords with >> the exception of 'type'." > > > In fact the current wording already mentions it: > > Use the type keyword plus the specified (whitespace or comma separated) > keywords instead of the current set of keywords. If ‘all’ is specified, use > all of the other keywords. > > I'd probably change the '-k' part to: > > ===== > .It Fl k Ar keywords > Use the mandatory > .Sy type > keyword plus the specified (whitespace or comma separated) > .Ar keywords > to replace the current set of keywords. > If > .Ql all > is specified, use all of the available keywords. > ===== > > and the '-R' part to: > > ===== > .It Fl R Ar keywords > Remove the specified (whitespace or comma separated) keywords from the current > set of keywords. > The > .Sy type > keyword is mandatory and is always retained. > If > .Ql all > is specified, remove all keywords except > .Sy type . > ===== > to make it more clear. > > That would render as: > > -k keywords > Use the mandatory type keyword plus the specified (whitespace > or comma separated) keywords to replace the current set of > keywords. If ‘all’ is specified, use all of the available > keywords. > > [...] > > -R keywords > Remove the specified (whitespace or comma separated) keywords > from the current set of keywords. The type keyword is > mandatory and is always retained. If ‘all’ is specified, > remove all keywords except type. > > > as attached. > > > >> >> >> > Cheers, >> >> >> Regards, >> >> -- >> Jose Luis Duran
Yes, number 2 was for the -R flag, as you noted. The code "fix" is to revert: https://github.com/NetBSD/src/commit/2163af1bb7ee561f0ab2251ddd2693a84909a7db Let's wait for ngie, otherwise, I'll submit the patch to GNATS. -- Jose Luis Duran
