As explained in http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2006/09/msg00438.html, I plan a mass bug filing for packages using debconf "notes" templates and display them at low or medium priorities.
The debconf-devel(7) manpage makes it clear that the "note" type should be used only for important notes that the user really should see. On the other hand, the "low" priority is meant for very trivial items that have defaults that will work in the vast majority of cases. "Medium" are for normal items that have reasonable defaults. In short, a note should only be used for IMPORTANT stuff, so actually all debconf notes should be priority high....or should not exist. The discussion showed a possible exception for notes mentioning the creation of device files as per a policy requirement. These will be excluded from the MBF. As the discussion did not show any other strong opposition to the proposal, I will soon launch the mass bug filing campaign. The bug reports will suggest to either move these notes to README.Debian or NEWS.Debian if it is not critical to display them to users. For other items, it will suggest to either use the "error" type of debconf templates or raise the priority as very last alternative. These bugs will be usertagged "useless_notes" (unless someone finds something more politically correct) by [EMAIL PROTECTED] They could later be grouped into a "no more useless notes" metabug if the "debian-i18n" pseudo-package is accepted (#388212). Packages with low priority debconf notes: ----------------------------------------- Aide Maintainers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> aide -- config:18 aide/setmailaddress Alexis Sukrieh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> backup-manager -- config:64 backup-manager/upload-user-scp-warning Andreas Schuldei <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> webmin-ldap-user-simple -- config:18 webmin-ldap-skolelinux/no-auto-config Andrés Roldán <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> mtop -- config:86 mtop/info Anton Zinoviev <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> kbedic -- postinst:34 kbedic/failed_download Aurélien GÉRÔME <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> hybserv -- config:6 hybserv/configure-hybrid-notice Camm Maguire <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> atlas3-3dnow -- config:8 atlas3/ldlp atlas3-3dnow -- config:9 atlas3/blas_lapack atlas3-3dnow -- config:11 atlas3-3dnow/3dnow_extensions atlas3-3dnow -- config:15 atlas3/nfs atlas3-base -- config:10 atlas3/ldlp atlas3-base -- config:11 atlas3/blas_lapack atlas3-base -- config:12 atlas3/nfs atlas3-sse2 -- config:6 atlas3/ldlp atlas3-sse2 -- config:7 atlas3/blas_lapack atlas3-sse2 -- config:11 atlas3-sse2/sse2_extensions atlas3-sse2 -- config:15 atlas3/nfs atlas3-sse -- config:6 atlas3/ldlp atlas3-sse -- config:7 atlas3/blas_lapack atlas3-sse -- config:10 atlas3-sse/sse_extensions atlas3-sse -- config:14 atlas3/nfs Davide G. M. Salvetti <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> mailcrypt -- config:36 mailcrypt/alreadydefault Debian QA Group <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> f-prot-installer -- postinst:28 f-prot-installer/failed Debian logcheck Team <logcheck-devel@lists.alioth.debian.org> logcheck-database -- config:17 logcheck-database/standard-rename-note Debian tpctl maintainers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> tpctl -- config:8 tpctl/apmiser-installed Eric Delaunay <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> xtel -- config:7 xtel/fonts_note Giuseppe Sacco <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> hylafax-server -- postinst:231 hylafax-server/configure_note Javier Fernandez-Sanguino Pen~a <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> checksecurity -- postinst:8 checksecurity/oldconf Jean-Michel Kelbert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wflogs -- config:145 wflogs/email_more_questions Mark Brown <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> leafnode -- config:85 leafnode/update-groupinfo leafnode -- config:87 leafnode/update-groupinfo powertweakd -- config:23 powertweak/daemon_config Matthew Vernon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> openssh-server -- config:61 ssh/insecure_telnetd Nick Phillips <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> teapop -- config:38 teapop/already-passwd teapop-ldap -- config:38 teapop/already-passwd teapop-mysql -- config:38 teapop/already-passwd teapop-pgsql -- config:38 teapop/already-passwd Nicolas Boullis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> em8300 -- postinst:27 em8300/microcode/download_failed Norbert Tretkowski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> slrn -- config:72 slrn/manual_getdescs slrnpull -- config:49 slrnpull/run_manual Ola Lundqvist <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> harden -- config:8 harden/welcome Pascal Hakim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> anacron -- config:11 anacron/jobs_in_crontab Paul Slootman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ipppd -- config:22 ipppd/wrongif isdnvboxserver -- config:66 isdnvboxserver/doityourself isdnvboxserver -- config:171 isdnvboxserver/doityourself isdnvboxserver -- postinst:217 isdnvboxserver/spoolcreate isdnvboxserver -- postinst:260 isdnvboxserver/spoolcreate Pawel Wiecek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> libvpopmail-freecdb -- postinst:33 shared/vpopmail/enableplugin libvpopmail-lmysql -- postinst:33 shared/vpopmail/enableplugin libvpopmail-lmysql -- postinst:34 shared/vpopmail/mysqlconf libvpopmail-mysql -- postinst:33 shared/vpopmail/enableplugin libvpopmail-mysql -- postinst:34 shared/vpopmail/mysqlconf Pierre Ancelot <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> hwtools -- config:9 hwtools/no-scsi Radovan Garabík <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> efingerd -- config:14 efingerd/note karrigell -- config:12 karrigell/note Roland Bauerschmidt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> colormake -- config:14 colormake/renamed Sam Hartman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ssh-krb5 -- config:72 ssh/insecure_telnetd ssh-krb5 -- config:94 ssh/forward_warning Stefan Hornburg (Racke) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> interchange -- config:172 interchange/cansoap Takuo KITAME <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> mozilla-browser -- config:26 mozilla/prefs_note Tollef Fog Heen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> msttcorefonts -- config:73 msttcorefonts/blurb Tomohiro KUBOTA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> language-env -- config:6 language-env/installation_is_insufficient Vivek Dasmohapatra <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> dbishell -- config:7 dbishell/dbiwarning Volker Ossenkopf <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> workman -- postinst:28 workman/cdrom_link_created workman -- postinst:38 workman/cdrom_gid_changed workman -- postinst:47 workman/cdrom_perm_changed xvmount -- postinst:84 xvmount/convert_succeeded xvmount -- postinst:112 xvmount/generate_succeeded Wouter Verhelst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> nbd-client -- config:17 nbd-client/no-auto-config nbd-server -- config:13 nbd-server/autogen Yu Guanghui <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> zhcon -- config:8 zhcon/rebuild_kernel resolvconf maintainers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> resolvconf -- config:33 resolvconf/bad-pppconfig-hook resolvconf -- config:38 resolvconf/bad-pppconfig-hook resolvconf -- config:42 resolvconf/bad-pppoeconf-hook resolvconf -- config:46 resolvconf/bad-xisp-hook resolvconf -- config:51 resolvconf/bad-xisp-hook Packages with medium priority debconf notes: -------------------------------------------- Aide Maintainers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> aide -- config:23 aide/mustaideinit Andreas Barth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> mgetty-fax -- config:9 mgetty-fax/new_security_scheme Andrés Roldán <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> mtop -- config:81 mtop/mismatch Anibal Monsalve Salazar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> apmd -- config:42 apmd/hdparm-removed Anton Zinoviev <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> console-cyrillic -- config:187 console-cyrillic/abusing_debconf Arnaud Quette <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> nut -- config:29 nut/change_system_user Aurelien Jarno <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> libsensors3 -- config:12 libsensors3/old2.6kernel libsensors3 -- config:20 libsensors3/nosensors_2.6 Bart Cornelis (cobaco) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> desktop-profiles -- config:15 desktop-profiles/replace-gconf-system-wide-path-file desktop-profiles -- config:27 desktop-profiles/replace-gconf-system-wide-path-file Bart Martens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> flashplugin-nonfree -- config:20 flashplugin-nonfree/not_exist Bdale Garbee <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> amanda-common -- config:10 amanda-common/merge_amandates dump -- config:13 dump/dumpdates_is_a_symlink dump -- config:19 dump/moving_from_etc_to_var Camm Maguire <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> lam-runtime -- config:10 lam-runtime/lam4 Carlo Contavalli <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wipl-client-java -- config:10 wipl-client-java/info Christian Hammers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> mysql-server-5.0 -- config:15 mysql-server-5.0/mysql_install_db_notes Christian Marillat <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> cricket -- config:13 cricket/config_tree_moved Clément Stenac <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> spong-client -- config:7 spong-client/init Colin Watson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> trn4 -- config:89 trn4/whoami-change Console utilities maintainers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> console-setup -- config:1817 console-setup/dont_ask_layout console-setup-mini -- config:1817 console-setup/dont_ask_layout David B. Harris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> shaper -- config:33 shaper/kernel-modules David Gil <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> phpgacl -- config:13 phpgacl/setup Davide G. M. Salvetti <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> auctex -- config:34 auctex/defaultchanged Debian QA Group <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> f-prot-installer -- config:88 f-prot-installer/install_later xapple2 -- config:8 xapple2/suid Debian TeX maintainers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> tetex-bin -- config:44 tetex-bin/cnf_name tex-common -- config:48 tex-common/cnf_name Debian logcheck Team <logcheck-devel@lists.alioth.debian.org> logcheck -- config:14 logcheck/install-note logcheck -- config:17 logcheck/changes Debian tpctl maintainers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> tpctl -- config:7 tpctl/need-thinkpad-modules Ed Boraas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> reiser4progs -- config:9 reiser4progs/new_disk_format Elie Rosenblum <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> album -- config:6 album/info Eloy A. Paris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> dhcp3-client -- postinst:22 dhcp3-client/dhclient-script_moved dhcp3-client -- postinst:25 dhcp3-client/dhclient-needs-restarting Emmanuel Lacour <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> suphp-common -- config:14 suphp-common/upgrade0.6.0 Emmanuel le Chevoir <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> xsmbrowser -- config:19 xsmbrowser/etc_dir Eric Delaunay <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> xtel -- config:10 xtel/ppp_note Federico Di Gregorio <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> nvidia-cg-toolkit -- config:20 nvidia-cg-toolkit/not_exist Francesco Paolo Lovergine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> aolserver4 -- config:9 aolserver4/introduction Frank Küster <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> netenv -- config:247 netenv/info_interfaces netenv -- config:265 netenv/noconf netenv -- config:267 netenv/twoconfs Ganesan Rajagopal <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> libslp1 -- config:12 libslp1/multicast libslp1 -- config:21 libslp1/multicast-route Giuseppe Sacco <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> hylafax-server -- postinst:221 hylafax-server/attachment Gopal Narayanan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> xplanet -- config:11 xplanet/Stable_Release Guilherme de S. Pastore <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> john -- config:20 john/no-replacement Jamie Wilkinson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> quake2-data -- config:66 quake2-data/shareinst quake2-data -- config:70 quake2-data/fullinst Javier Fernandez-Sanguino Pen~a <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> euro-support -- config:6 euro-support/configuring snort -- config:105 snort/please_restart_manually snort -- config:114 snort/config_parameters snort-mysql -- config:57 snort-mysql/needs_db_config snort-mysql -- config:67 snort-mysql/config_parameters snort-mysql -- config:75 snort-mysql/please_restart_manually snort-pgsql -- config:56 snort-pgsql/needs_db_config snort-pgsql -- config:66 snort-pgsql/config_parameters snort-pgsql -- config:75 snort-pgsql/please_restart_manually tiger -- config:7 tiger/policy_adapt user-es -- config:11 user-es/configure-es user-euro-es -- config:10 user-euro-es/configure-euro-es Jesus Climent <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> rssh -- config:17 rssh/update-config-pre-2.2 Jon Marler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> qmail-src -- config:7 qmail-src/build Josselin Mouette <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> gtk2-engines-spherecrystal -- config:22 gtk2-engines/restart_gtk_apps_for_svg Juan Manuel Garcia Molina <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> facturalux -- config:10 facturalux/databasenote Julien BLACHE <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> mcelog -- postinst:21 mcelog/unusable LENART Janos <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> mga-vid-common -- config:6 mga-vid-common/device_node_warning Laszlo Boszormenyi (GCS) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> gradm2 -- config:9 gradm2/create_dev_grsec Mario Lang <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> filterproxy -- config:9 filterproxy/readme Mark Brown <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> leafnode -- config:92 leafnode/expireinfo Martin Langhoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> twig -- config:7 twig/minimal-setup twig -- config:12 twig/db-update Martin Loschwitz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> gidentd -- config:5 gidentd/default_daemon Masayuki Hatta (mhatta) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> gtktrain -- config:7 gtktrain/get-train-schedule Massimo Dal Zotto <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> dpkg-www -- config:7 dpkg-www/update-apache-config Matt Brown <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> phpwiki -- postinst:284 phpwiki/notes/configupgrade Mattia Dongili <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> cpufreqd -- config:17 cpufreqd/no_pm cpufreqd -- config:26 cpufreqd/no_procfs_sysfs Mediawiki Maintenance Team <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> mediawiki1.5 -- config:21 mediawiki/upgrade mediawiki1.7 -- config:29 mediawiki/upgrade-1d4 Michael Biebl <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> libsctp1 -- config:43 lksctp-tools/nosctp Michael Holzt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> gwhois -- config:7 gwhois/oldfiles Morgon Kanter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> vtun -- config:8 vtun/passwords OHURA Makoto <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ptex-jisfonts -- config:6 ptex-jisfonts/jisftconfig Ola Lundqvist <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> harden-clients -- config:8 harden-clients/plaintext harden-servers -- config:8 harden-servers/plaintext harden-servers -- config:10 harden-servers/inetd harden-servers -- config:14 harden-servers/vncserver harden-servers -- postinst:13 harden-servers/vncserver Oliver Kurth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> masqmail -- config:29 masqmail/note_moved_tpl masqmail -- config:176 masqmail/you_are_not_finished Pascal Hakim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> blosxom -- config:10 blosxom/old_cgi_file Paul Martin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> radioclk -- config:20 radioclk/configure_ntp Paul Telford <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> autolog -- config:4 autolog/note Pawel Wiecek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> mp3info -- config:12 mp3info/newmp3info mush-src -- config:7 mush-src/build Pedro Zorzenon Neto <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> avrprog -- config:7 avrprog/suid_warning Rene Engelhard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> muttprint -- config:34 muttprint/utf8 Rene Weber <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> dailystrips -- config:9 dailystrips/warning-etcdefs Sam Hartman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ssh-krb5 -- config:18 ssh/ssh2_keys_merged Simon Law <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wvdial -- config:66 wvdial/passphrases_mismatch Stefan Hornburg (Racke) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> interchange -- config:77 interchange/usernoroot interchange -- config:114 interchange/groupnoroot Thomas Viehmann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> dput -- config:11 dput/config-file-format Tim Cutts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> am-utils -- config:34 am-utils/log-to-file Torsten Landschoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ddclient -- config:57 ddclient/modifiedconfig ddclient -- config:161 ddclient/newconfigfmt Torsten Werner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ejabberd -- config:14 ejabberd/nomatch Volker Ossenkopf <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> workman -- config:38 workman/no_block_device workman -- postinst:30 workman/cdrom_link_failed workman -- postinst:40 workman/cdrom_gid_failed workman -- postinst:49 workman/cdrom_perm_failed xvmount -- config:27 xvmount/wrong_format xvmount -- postinst:82 xvmount/convert_failed xvmount -- postinst:114 xvmount/generate_failed Víctor Pérez Pereira <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> squidguard -- config:14 squidguard/db Wolfgang Sourdeau <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> lire -- config:57 lire/foundlocaluser Wouter Verhelst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> logtool -- config:76 logtool/error-multiple Xavier Luthi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> b2evolution -- config:35 b2evolution/apache b2evolution -- config:40 b2evolution/install_semi_manual b2evolution -- config:44 b2evolution/install_manual b2evolution -- config:60 b2evolution/apache b2evolution -- config:64 b2evolution/install_auto Yven Johannes Leist <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> mueller7-dict -- postinst:51 mueller7-dict/no-utf-8-locale resolvconf maintainers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> resolvconf -- config:75 resolvconf/downup-interfaces -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". 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