On Sat, 2023-03-04 at 12:58 -0700, Leland Best wrote: > Hi, > > Just my $0.02 ... > > On Sat, 2023-03-04 at 12:08 +1100, Frank Crawford wrote: > > Just on the repository format migration option just consider that > > if > > automated, then when packaging it for RedHat, and probably other > > distributions, it should be non-interactive, and preferably easy to > > tell if it is required or not (for example if they did a > > reinstall). > > If by "non-interactive" you mean something that happens automatically > as, say, > part of the distribution's package upgrade/update process, I vote for > a big > "No".
No, I mean specifically it doesn't ask questions, such as where the repo is, or even if you do or don't want to run it. > > First, I don't see how the package manager stuff (i.e. scripts, etc.) > could > possibly figure out reliably where all one's repositories are. > 'rdiff-backup' > let's one create one _anywhere_. There might be "system" backup > repositories, > repositories created by individual users for their own use, testing > repositories, who knows what? Some may not even be available at the > time of > upgrade (removable drives, non- "auto mounted" network drives, etc.). This is a good point, so probably does indicate it needs to be run out of rdiff-backup itself, when it is accessing the repo for some reason. It could be part of rdiff-backup, or just some extra script that rdiff- backup calls as needed. > > Second, I personally have had enough "new format upgrades" go > horribly wrong > over the years (not with 'rdiff-backup', but in general) that I would > much > rather be notified about the change ahead of time, then run some > migration tool > (possibly built into 'rdiff-backup' itself?) at a time of my > choosing. That > way, I can back up my backups (good grief) before the migration just > in case. > > > > > Also, as you have found, no one reads the release notes, so very > > few > > will read that they need to run anything for a migration, and so we > > will almost certainly need it to be done automatically, either by > > rdiff-backup, or just when upgrading the package. > [...] > > Leading up to the mandatory migration, there should be a period of > time where > 'rdiff-backup' prints a prominent warning/notification about the > migration every > time it's run. During this time, 'rdiff-backup' should support both > formats and > allow the migration tool to be run whenever it's convenient. I tend to agree, although I suspect a significant and noisy group will still never read it and then complain about something with the change. > > Again, just my $0.02 worth. > > Cheers > Leland Regards Frank
