Yes, assuming the bin uid/gid are 1 isn't good practice as it is not consistent between Linux distributions. That's not the issue and Debian is not going to comply with LSB 1.0, ever. But note that I am saying nothing about complying with any other version of the LSB.
The most difficult question that a standards body codifying existing practice deals with is trying to not break existing software. Since most software should be using good practices and hence using getpwent(), most existing software will work with Debian. When we deprecate a specific item in the LSB, we are giving software providers notice that their software needs to be changed to comply with LSB 1.x, 2.x, etc. When the specification requirement that bin's uid/gid be 1 is obsoleted, software providers will have been given ample time (1-2 yrs.?) to update their software. At that time, Debian, with no changes, will become compliant with the version of the LSB in which the requirement that bin's uid/gid be 1 is dropped. If I were Debian, I would be frustrated at the length of time it takes to obsolete a feature. It's an unfortunate reality that software producers need to have time to change their products, but it is also an unavoidable reality. Lastly, I offer the observation that if it were easy to create and update a Linux interface standard, it would have been done a long time ago. -----Original Message----- From: Wichert Akkerman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2002 9:19 AM To: VomLehn, David Cc: debian-devel@lists.debian.org; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Bug#134658: ITP: lsb -- Linux Standard Base 1.1 core support package Previously VomLehn, David wrote: > I would urge some caution here. If I were to guess at a reason as to why > bin has uid/gid of 1, I would suspect that some application > installations use 1 as the bin uid/gid instead of looking it up. But this already isn't portable since the uid of bin is not consistent between Linux distributions. > This may not be good practices, but the LSB work is primarily focused > on codifying current practices, good or not. codifying a current broken practice is broken. Also notice that the description if bin and daemon in the LSB are vague at best which suggests that there really is nobody who has any good reason for having those accounts around. Wichert. -- _________________________________________________________________ /[EMAIL PROTECTED] This space intentionally left occupied \ | [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.liacs.nl/~wichert/ | | 1024D/2FA3BC2D 576E 100B 518D 2F16 36B0 2805 3CB8 9250 2FA3 BC2D |
