It looks like the fix in rpm in Debian is to use bash instead of dash, so the fallback from $HOME to ~ works if $HOME is not set.
I'm not sure if this particular fix is appropriate for Trusty as the rpm package doesn't currently depend on bash. Incidentally, shouldn't the fix in Debian have included the new dependency? A "getent passwd" based solution might be better just for the SRU, since it's provided by libc-bin which is an "Essential: yes" package. Anyway, just my thoughts. Someone will still need to prepare a suitable SRU, etc. ** Also affects: rpm (Ubuntu Trusty) Importance: Undecided Status: New ** Also affects: dkms (Ubuntu Trusty) Importance: Undecided Status: New ** Bug watch added: Debian Bug tracker #741324 http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=741324 ** Also affects: rpm (Debian) via http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=741324 Importance: Unknown Status: Unknown -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Kernel Packages, which is subscribed to dkms in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1069350 Title: suspicious /.rpmdb root directory Status in rpm package manager: Opinion Status in dkms package in Ubuntu: Confirmed Status in rpm package in Ubuntu: Fix Released Status in dkms source package in Trusty: New Status in rpm source package in Trusty: New Status in dkms package in Debian: New Status in rpm package in Debian: Unknown Bug description: I have the following directory structure on my system which conflicts to the LSB standard: ls -ld /.rpmdb/{,*} drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Okt 21 2011 /.rpmdb/ -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8192 Okt 21 2011 /.rpmdb/Basenames -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8192 Okt 21 2011 /.rpmdb/Conflictname -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 24576 Apr 27 00:52 /.rpmdb/__db.001 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4096000 Apr 27 00:52 /.rpmdb/__db.002 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 83894272 Apr 27 00:52 /.rpmdb/__db.003 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 811008 Apr 27 00:52 /.rpmdb/__db.004 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8192 Okt 21 2011 /.rpmdb/Dirnames -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8192 Okt 21 2011 /.rpmdb/Group -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8192 Okt 21 2011 /.rpmdb/Installtid -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8192 Okt 21 2011 /.rpmdb/Name -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8192 Okt 21 2011 /.rpmdb/Obsoletename -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 12288 Okt 21 2011 /.rpmdb/Packages -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8192 Okt 21 2011 /.rpmdb/Providename -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8192 Okt 21 2011 /.rpmdb/Requirename -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8192 Okt 21 2011 /.rpmdb/Sha1header -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8192 Okt 21 2011 /.rpmdb/Sigmd5 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8192 Okt 21 2011 /.rpmdb/Triggername Afaik, this directory belongs to rpm or alien. Maybe it appears because of a lack of environment variables (e.g. $HOME not set) in particular situations. As you can see in the listing, the directory is not used frequently, but I'm not sure if it's save to delete it. Maybe the problem is already solved in the current version of ubuntu (at last the time the files were touched I was running Ubuntu 11.10), but I think it's important to have this bug registered so other users can find it. There is an active thread about it at ubuntuforums: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1864423 To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/rpm/+bug/1069350/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~kernel-packages Post to : kernel-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~kernel-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp