On Fri, Jun 20, 2003 at 11:23:11PM +0200, Michael van Elst wrote:
>On Fri, Jun 20, 2003, Bill Campbell wrote:
>
>Bill,
>
>> 1. Specify all configuration files that are essential to program
>> operation ``%config(noreplace)'' (e.g. postfix's main.cf, samba's
>> smb.conf, etc.) to avoid breaking production systems when doing
>> updates.
>
>I don't think there is a correct way. You may either fail with the old
>or the new configuration. With the default %config the user configuration
>is only modified when the default configuration changes, in that case
>it is likely that the user configuration is broken.
I'm most concerned with programs like postfix which require extensive
localization, and killing the MTA at an ISP is a major PITA (but I probably
don't have to tell the C&W guys that :-). Our postfix/Makefiles are
extensively modified to automatically incorporate alias files from mailing
lists, update the virtual file from multiple domain files, etc., and it can
take a while to get these back in order after an update. Weitze makes a
point of backwards compatibility with postfix so there's not much chance of
buggering it entirely by staying with the local modifications.
>What we need is some kind of sanity checking. For example, the rc file
>could prevent a service from beeing started when there is a .rpmsave
>configuration present.
That may at least prevent some problems.
>
>> 2. In liew of implementing package-specific options in ~/.openpkg/build,
>> use option names such as ``with_vim_x11'' instead of the more generic
>> ``with_x11''.
>
>The current version of the build tool supports package specific options,
>i.e.: vim::with_x11.
I guess I hadn't seen that. Good Job!
>
>> 3. Add options ``with_%{name}_doc'' to allow the builder to include
>> documentation. One package that really wants to have documentation
>> on-line is Samba when using ``swat'' since one of the primary reasons
>> for using swat is easy access to the documentation when configurating
>> obscure options.
>
>Some packages do include documentation, some don't. The minimum we need
>is some consistent packaging. Making documentation beyond a basic man-page
>available by an option (%{name}::with_doc, see above) sounds like a good
>idea.
Samba just jumped out at me when I installed it at a customer site a couple
of weeks ago. I was somewhat surprised when I fired up swat, found there
weren't any icons loaded, and that the on-line documentation wasn't loaded.
Bill
--
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URL: http://www.celestial.com/
The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common.
Instead of altering their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts
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be one of the facts that needs altering.
-- Doctor Who, "Face of Evil"
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