Here is a patch which summarized this discussion. I've tested this on a number of systems and it satisfactorily fixes the "doesn't boot" problem.
Note to -release: This needs the initscripts version from unstable, which is frozen.
diff -u libnss-ldap-251/debian/changelog libnss-ldap-251/debian/changelog --- libnss-ldap-251/debian/changelog +++ libnss-ldap-251/debian/changelog @@ -1,3 +1,13 @@ +libnss-ldap (251-5.3) unstable; urgency=high + + * Non-maintainer upload. + * Added versioned dependency on initscripts to make sure /lib/init/rw/ is + available (closes: #390926) + * When upgrading from earlier versions, remove rc.d symlinks and install + again in the new location (closes: #375077) + + -- Peter Eisentraut <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Mon, 16 Oct 2006 12:37:56 +0200 + libnss-ldap (251-5.2) unstable; urgency=high * Non-maintainer upload. diff -u libnss-ldap-251/debian/libnss-ldap.postinst libnss-ldap-251/debian/libnss-ldap.postinst --- libnss-ldap-251/debian/libnss-ldap.postinst +++ libnss-ldap-251/debian/libnss-ldap.postinst @@ -184,2 +184,6 @@ +if dpkg --compare-versions "$2" lt-nl 251-5.3; then + update-rc.d -f libnss-ldap remove >/dev/null +fi + #DEBHELPER# diff -u libnss-ldap-251/debian/control libnss-ldap-251/debian/control --- libnss-ldap-251/debian/control +++ libnss-ldap-251/debian/control @@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ Package: libnss-ldap Architecture: any -Depends: ${shlibs:Depends}, debconf | debconf-2.0 +Depends: ${shlibs:Depends}, debconf | debconf-2.0, initscripts (>= 2.86.ds1-23) Recommends: nscd, libpam-ldap Description: NSS module for using LDAP as a naming service This package provides a Name Service Switch that allows your LDAP server