EurOpen.SE meeting

1996-09-12 Thread Håkan Carlsson
We (EurOpen.SE) would like to have some one from the Debian project
to present the project and OS at our meeting in Oct 24-25. I've tried
to reach some of you via [EMAIL PROTECTED], but without any luck.

Please let me know who I should contact.

Håkan

[EMAIL PROTECTED] (@ work)
[EMAIL PROTECTED] (@ home)
[EMAIL PROTECTED] (EurOpen.SE staff)




Bug#4472: apache out of date

1996-09-12 Thread Yves Arrouye
I know. My 1.1.1 package is ready and I will upload it this week, I think.
Yves.

-- 
Yves Arrouye  Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
7, avenue Leon BolleeWeb: http://www.fdn.fr/~yarrouye/
75013 Paris  Work: +33 45 95 64 59
France   Home: +33 53 61 09 55




Re: dpkg and dependencies - manual update

1996-09-12 Thread Ian Jackson
Thanks, Guy, for clarifying that issue.  I've added the following to
the programmers' manual:
 When selecting which level of dependency to use you should consider
 how important the depended-on package is to the functionality of the
 one declaring the dependency.  Some packages are composed of
 components of varying degrees of importance.  Such a package should
 list using tt/Depends/ the package(s) which are required by the more
 important components.  The other components' requirements may be
 mentioned as Suggestions or Recommendations, as appropriate to the
 components' relative importance.

Ian.




Use of dpkg-divert - new policy

1996-09-12 Thread Ian Jackson
Prompted by the recent problem with ADA and /usr/bin/gcc, I've added
the new rule below to the policy manual in dpkg 1.4.0.

Ian.

sectUse of prgn/dpkg-divert/ and prgn/update-alternatives/
p

Do not use prgn/dpkg-divert/ on a file belonging to another package
without consulting the maintainer of that package first.
p

In order for prgn/update-alternatives/ to work correctly all the
packages which supply an instance of the `shared' command name (or,
in general, filename) must use it.  You can use tt/Conflicts/ to
force the deinstallation of other packages supplying it which do not
(yet) use prgn/update-alternatives/.  It may in this case be
appropriate to specify a conflict on earlier versions on something -
this is an exception to the usual rule that this is not allowed.




diff_2.7-11 uploaded to master

1996-09-12 Thread Dale Scheetz
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-

Format: 1.5
Date: Tue, 10 Sep 1996 23:33:40 -0400
Source: diff
Binary: diff
Architecture: source i386
Version: 2.7-11
Distribution: unstable
Urgency: low
Maintainer: Dale Scheetz [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Description: 
 diff   - File comparison utilities
Changes: 
 diff (2.7-11) unstable; urgency=low
 .
   * Updated package to Standards-Version 2.1.0.0.
Files: 
 353e33462b896607ae23960c3087fbea 542 base required diff_2.7-11.dsc
 f4a16d4aa1107536b13ad1bc2a19b1c8 310758 base required diff_2.7.orig.tar.gz
 919b19f3abe89f1584c49f796912e484 14887 base required diff_2.7-11.diff.gz
 0aaa3002636bfa3526abdce175e852f5 185458 base required diff_2.7-11_i386.deb

-BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-
Version: 2.6.2

iQB1AwUBMjY0JJEoh1qC3Q5lAQFuwQL9E2UxopSpBbXGzpeY2sOIhMIsgP6hUgDw
hCTit050wjmkiqp0DzKorEQgtPBo9wLAtffv48Yf2lsFIjPsyO12Y82JLj6T90Ji
M7a8XreC16Qfw3Zu06zs0yBEbjDo9z1e
=zR+z
-END PGP SIGNATURE-



Dwarf

  --

aka   Dale Scheetz   Phone:   1 (904) 877-0257
  Flexible Software  Fax: NONE 
  Black Creek Critters   e-mail:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]

 If you don't see what you want, just ask --




Re: Bug#4475: Pine dies unexpectedly

1996-09-12 Thread Dale Scheetz
On Wed, 11 Sep 1996, Nikhil Nair wrote:

 Package: pine
 Version: 3.94-2
 
 Pine, ever since I upgraded to this version, has crashed on me frequently.
 It seems to happen if I fail to hit a key for a while, as if it's some
 sort of timeout, but that's not the only time it does it.  No coredump,
 and no message saying Pine terminating or anything like that.
 
 I've been running pine with the `open' command to put it in a fresh VC; I

Is there some compelling reason for doing it this way? Do you use any
options with the open command? Do you use the open command on any other
programs? Do they work properly?

 haven't observed this behaviour when running it from an ordinary shell, so
 maybe it doesn't like being a session leader.  Also, I tried running it
 under strace, but it wouldn't crash! - that seems to confirm this
 conclusion.
 
 This is *very* annoying ...
 
Well, like the doctor said: If it hurts when you do that, just don't do
that. ;-)
Seriously, I'll see what I can figure out.

Luck,

Dwarf

  --

aka   Dale Scheetz   Phone:   1 (904) 877-0257
  Flexible Software  Fax: NONE 
  Black Creek Critters   e-mail:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]

 If you don't see what you want, just ask --




Bug#4476: Remove error-message activism :-)

1996-09-12 Thread Larry Gilbert
Package: xpdf
Version: 0.5-0

More of a misfeature than a bug.

There is an error message that pops up when xpdf tries to open an
encrypted PDF file.  It complains that Adobe has not released decryption
specs to developers, and implores the user to e-mail Adobe to complain.

The latest information at the xpdf home page states that Adobe has
finally released the decryption specs.  It also says that a new version
of xpdf is in the works, but its release is uncertain.

It might be wise to change the error message until a new version of xpdf
is released by the author.  Just a polite gesture more than anything
else. :-)

This is the error message in question:

Error (0): PDF file is encrypted and cannot be displayed
Error (0): * Please send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and ask
Error (0): * them to prove that PDF is truly an open standard by
Error (0): * releasing the decryption specs to developers.  Also,
Error (0): * please send email to the person responsible for this
Error (0): * file ([EMAIL PROTECTED] might be a good place) and ask
Error (0): * them to stop using encrypted PDF files.

--
Larry Gilbert, technical support (Bess  Rainier.Net)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]




Bug#4477: Emacs doesn't use /etc/mailname

1996-09-12 Thread Ian Jackson
Package: emacs
Version: 19.31-2

-chiark:~ grep mailname /var/lib/dpkg/info/emacs.*
-chiark:~ cat /etc/mailname
chiark.greenend.org.uk
-chiark:~ hostname -f
chiark.chu.cam.ac.uk
-chiark:~ 

But, after C-h C-v mail-host-address RET:

-Emacs: *scratch*  12:40am 0.34 Mail   (Lisp Interaction)--L1--All
mail-host-address's value is nil

Documentation:
*Name of this machine, for purposes of naming users.
-Emacs: *Help* 12:40am 0.34 Mail   (Help View)--L1--All---

Ian.




Ian Jackson's availability over the next weeks/months

1996-09-12 Thread Ian Jackson
It's coming up to my thesis deadline (well, my funding is starting to
look thin), so I'll be spending somewhat less time on Debian over the
next few weeks/months.

I'm about to release dpkg 1.4.0, which will probably be the last one
for several weeks.  I'm going to be away for a week or so soon, and
very busy househunting, jobhunting and writing up the rest of the
time.

Expect replies to your email to take a long time.  I really appreciate
it when people answer each other's questions on debian-devel about
dpkg c., even if some of them are wrong.  I can always post saying
`Joe Smith is right' :-).

If there is a grievous bug in dpkg (or my other packages) then someone
else may have to fix it.  If you wish to do this please
 (a) be sure you understand the code,
 (b) make the minimal fix (obviously) until I can get round to it,
 (c) mail the patch and rationale to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED],
 (d) use version numbers like 1.4.0.1 (ie, add a new component) and
 (e) correspond on debian-devel to avoid simultaneous releases.
Please don't make releases with any major changes.

If the policy or programmers' manuals need updating then Guy or Bruce
or someone ought to approve the change.

I will still be reading debian-devel and my email, and if something
really needs my input I'll pop up and pontificate.

Things that I'm really sorry I haven't got round to in dpkg are:

* Configuration files (rc files) for dpkg/dselect, and associated
extra configurability.  I want this done the way I have in mind, so
I'd like it left to me.

* New user interface for dselect.  This is potentially something
someone else could write.  It only has to replace the `select' part of
dselect, and integration can be done some other time.  While testing
it could even be a separate program.

* System administrators' manual, and complementarily the manpage
dpkg(8).  If someone else wants to write this, fine, but you have to
be _very_ familiar with the way dpkg works.  I don't have the time to
spend editing and correcting something in detail, so if you get it
wrong you'll just get a message back from me saying `sorry, it's
techically inaccurate, I'm not shipping it.'

* See the WISHLIST (TODO in the source package).  There are many
things there that individually wouldn't take up so much time ...

I expect to be in a new job and house by the end of November, and a
month or two after that I expect to be with you again in full.

Ian.

PS: I feel really uncomfortable putting my name in the Subject line
like that :-).




debian-manuals 2.1.1.0: minor changes

1996-09-12 Thread Ian Jackson
This is the version in dpkg 1.4.0 (in dpkg-dev).

debian-manuals (2.1.1.0) unstable;

  * Hard links are forbidden in source packages (they didn't work anyway,
and can't easily be made to work reliably).
  * Do not use dpkg-divert or update-alternatives without consultation.

  * Do not need to declare dependencies on Essential packages.
  * Restrictions on Pre-Depends stated in policy manual.
  * debian/substvars file is now almost always auto-generated.
  * Shared libraries must be installed stripped.
  * Essential and Pre-Depends put together in policy manual.

  * Explained component-wise (file-wise) vs. package-wise dependencies.

 -- Ian Jackson [EMAIL PROTECTED]  Thu, 12 Sep 1996 01:00:41 +0100




Re: Bug#4475: Pine dies unexpectedly

1996-09-12 Thread Nikhil Nair
On Wed, 11 Sep 1996, Dale Scheetz wrote:

 On Wed, 11 Sep 1996, Nikhil Nair wrote:
 
  [...]
  I've been running pine with the `open' command to put it in a fresh VC; I
 
 Is there some compelling reason for doing it this way? Do you use any
 options with the open command? Do you use the open command on any other
 programs? Do they work properly?

I use open together with dynamic-vc to implement a sort of terminal-based
full-screen windowing system (as I can't use X).  I do something like

$ open -s -- command args

(shortened by a shell script :-) ).  In this case it's pine with no
arguments.

I've been using this for over a year, and run almost everything I use in
this fashion.  For all of that time, I've been using a previous version
of pine (I think it was 3.91 or something ...) with no problem.

Nikhil.

--
Nikhil Nair
Trinity College, Cambridge, England
Tel.: +44 1223 368353
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
   [EMAIL PROTECTED]






Re: Shared libraries and version handling

1996-09-12 Thread Guy Maor
On Wed, 11 Sep 1996, Dale Scheetz wrote:

 Is there a method of picking up this information [package version]
 from a central source in the package?

You can just do what dpkg does - parse the changelog:

/usr/lib/dpkg/parsechangelog/debian  debian/changelog | \
sed -n '/Version: /s///p'

If you use a different changelog format, you'll have to call your
parser instead.  If you want just the major number for an soname, use
'/Version: \(.*\)\..*/s//\1/p' as the sed command.


Guy




Who is doing the libc6 package?

1996-09-12 Thread Bruce Perens
Who is doing the libc6 package? It would be interesting to see how
much of our stuff builds and runs off of this, and how much trouble
it has with shadow password, etc.

It also changes the format of some configuration files, I fear. I noticed
a different format for the resolver configuration file. We should figure
out what we are doing about that.

Thanks

Bruce

From: Ulrich Drepper [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Hi,

I'm pleased to announce the next test release of the GNU C library.
Again my errors are fixed and many enchancements were implemented.

The complete sources are available at

ftp://alpha.gnu.ai.mit.edu/gnu

The bad news is that this release does not work for Hurd yet.  We hope
that future versions will not have this problem anymore but in the
moment there are a few problems.


The main changes:

- the building process should now run faster when a separate building
  directory is used.  Andreas Schwab changed the Makefiles so that they
  create subdirs according to the structure of the sources.  This
  avoids the huge directory which was used before.

- the add-on mechanism should now work correctly.  Using this technique
  one can add additional code which is compiled as part of glibc.  This
  can also be used to overwrite code from the original glibc sources.

  Currently two add-ons are available:
  * crypt, Michael Glad UFC package
  * LinuxThreads by Xavier Leroy
  Both packages are available together with the sources.  Simply unpack
  the sources in the glibc toplevel dir and run configure with the
   --enable-add-ons option.

  IMPORTANT!!!  Do *not* download the crypt package from the FSF server
  when you are outside the US or Canada.  I have made all files (the
  libc and the add-ons) also available on

ftp://i44ftp.info.uni-karlsruhe.de/pub/linux/libc/glibc-pre2

- enchanced thread support for Linux.  In fact I expect that we are
  close to a thread safe libc.  The hooks for glibc are available when
  the LinuxThreads add-on is available.  Some tests already run but
  the stdio implementation still has a few problem (partly caused by
  the not yet finished thread library).

- more and better message translations available


For more details please look through the changes.


The situation for ports other than to Hurd or Linux didn't changed.
There is still nobody interested in seeing glibc-2.0 on other
platforms.


As alawys, send comments or bug reports to

[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Please always include the output of a run of the libc.so object in the
mail (yes, executing the libc shared library itself produces some
output).

Thanks,


-- Uli
--.   [EMAIL PROTECTED]  ,-.   Rubensstrasse 5
Ulrich Drepper \,'   \  76149 Karlsruhe/Germany
Cygnus Support  `--'  [EMAIL PROTECTED]  `




Re: Shared libraries and version handling

1996-09-12 Thread Heiko Schlittermann
: I've been working on converting the gmp package to the new source format
: and adding shared libraries to the package at the same time. Since version
: tagging no longer takes place in debian/rules I have had to hard code the
: so version numbers into both the rules and the Makefile. I have looked
: through the new docs with no success (my index karma again probably). Is
: there a method of picking up this information from a central source in the
: package?

I think about doing somethink like an imaginary dpkg-substvars.  It
should 

* obtain the variables values from central cource
  (debian/substvars) or from within the dpkg-* library
  routines (see docs for available vars (e.g.  ${Source-Version}))

and

* output the contents of a specified variable
  to be uses like:
dpkg-substvars --print Source-Version

and/or

* filter (a la sed) and substitute varibles
  to be used like:
dpkg-substvars debian/shlibs debian/tmp/DEBIAN/shlibs


What do you think about?

(Or have I missed such nice tool?  (Having dpkg-1.3.14).

Heiko
--
email : [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
pgp   : A1 7D F6 7B 69 73 48 35  E1 DE 21 A7 A8 9A 77 92 
finger: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]




Re: automated uploading to chiark.

1996-09-12 Thread Michael Meskes
Heiko Schlittermann writes:
 for you in Europe, using chiark as relay to master.debian.org ... since
 the procedure of uploading to Incoming and moving to ../queue is
 somewhat error prone, I've written a little perl script (using
 ftp.pl and lchat.pl from the mirror package) to do this
 for me.
 
 If somebody is interested in, please mail me.

Yes! Yes! Yes! :-)

 Features:
 
 * using *.changes file to determine the files to be
   uploaded 
 * checking the md5 sums before starting further processing
 * logging of uploads (preventing duplicated uploads)
 * moving around on the ftp server, if necessary
 * sending mail to debian-changes after

debian-changes? Shouldn't this be debian-devel?

   completed upload of every package
 

Where can I get ifrom?

Michael

-- 
Michael Meskes   |_  __  
[EMAIL PROTECTED] |   / ___// / // / / __ \___  __
[EMAIL PROTECTED]  |   \__ \/ /_  / // /_/ /_/ / _ \/ ___/ ___/
[EMAIL PROTECTED]|  ___/ / __/ /__  __/\__, /  __/ /  (__  )
Use Debian GNU/Linux!| //_/  /_/  //\___/_/  //




Bug#4465: security hole in netdiag package

1996-09-12 Thread Michael Meskes
Peter Tobias writes:
 
 Package: netdiag
 Version: 0.2-3
 
 The postinst script copies the tcpdump binary from the tcpdump
 package and the traceroute binary from the netstd package to /usr/bin
 and makes them setuid root.adm. This allows all users in the existing
 adm group to use tcpdump to get the unencrypted passwords that are
 transmitted over the network.

This is a real problem. But you probably cannot really fix it since you stil
have that possibily via another machine. My collegue tried this in recent
weeks and wondered why it didn't work until I told him about ssh. :-)

 IMHO the netdiag package shouldn't use tcpdump/traceroute
 (neither as binaries nor as links). Copying/linking binaries from
 other packages just to have them in /usr/bin is a bad idea. Maybe
 something like this should be added to the guidelines.

Totally agreed. Just for curiosity, why were they moved anyway? Most users
who know these tools will figure out how to start them from /usr/sbin
anyway.

Michael

-- 
Michael Meskes   |_  __  
[EMAIL PROTECTED] |   / ___// / // / / __ \___  __
[EMAIL PROTECTED]  |   \__ \/ /_  / // /_/ /_/ / _ \/ ___/ ___/
[EMAIL PROTECTED]|  ___/ / __/ /__  __/\__, /  __/ /  (__  )
Use Debian GNU/Linux!| //_/  /_/  //\___/_/  //




Re: dpkg and dependencies - manual update

1996-09-12 Thread Dale Scheetz
On Wed, 11 Sep 1996, Ian Jackson wrote:

 Thanks, Guy, for clarifying that issue.  I've added the following to
 the programmers' manual:
  When selecting which level of dependency to use you should consider
  how important the depended-on package is to the functionality of the
  one declaring the dependency.  Some packages are composed of
  components of varying degrees of importance.  Such a package should
  list using tt/Depends/ the package(s) which are required by the more
  important components.  The other components' requirements may be
  mentioned as Suggestions or Recommendations, as appropriate to the
  components' relative importance.
 
For me, this is still inadequate. Subjective phrases like components
of varying degrees of importance and required by the more important
components do not lead all readers to the same conclusions. This
importance of the components depends on the goals of the user. Thus, I
find dpkg-buildpackage to be as important to me as dpkg and don't find
dselect to be very important at all. (I realize that this is my personal
point of view, and not shared by all others)
It has been my understanding that the dependency feature of the package
installation software is intended to provide the user with an installation
where all functionality provided by a package will work when the package
has been properly installed (with it's dependency requirements met first).
The relative importance of the various functional components is irrelevant
to this issue, since this is purely subjective. If some functionality is
provided by a package, some indication of the other packages that are
necessary for it's proper operation is absolutely necessary.
If a bit of functionality is so unimportant as to not require reporting of
it's dependencies then why was it included in the package in the first
place?
I have been thinking about a possible dependency problem with Pine. Pine
uses ispell to do it's spell checking. If ispell is not properly
installed, Pine complains, but does so in a way that provides no
information to the user about what the problem is. (The error messages are
pushed off the screen so fast as to be unreadable. The last message that
appears is Spell checking complete)
For me (heavily spelling impaired) the spell checker is an absolute
necessity. For others it may be totaly unnecessary. How do I determin
which level of depends to use (if any)?

Help me decide which is correct by sending your suggestion via private
e-mail. I will summarize the vote back to the list so we can see just how
much consensus can be had on this kind of issue.

Thanks,

Dwarf

  --

aka   Dale Scheetz   Phone:   1 (904) 877-0257
  Flexible Software  Fax: NONE 
  Black Creek Critters   e-mail:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]

 If you don't see what you want, just ask --




Uploaded dupload_1.2_i386 to chiark

1996-09-12 Thread heiko
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-

Format: 1.5
Date: Thu, 12 Sep 1996 17:44:04 +0200
Source: dupload
Binary: dupload
Architecture: source all
Version: 1.2
Distribution: experimental
Urgency: medium
Maintainer: Heiko Schlittermann [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Description: 
 dupload- Utility to upload debian packages.
Changes: 
 dupload (1.2) experimental; urgency=medium
 .
   * silly bug prevented it from sending the announcement
Files: 
 a5aeee5519fec163fbde80e95cea4feb 536 misc extra dupload_1.2.dsc
 ec2bb774366903e8554b7314add0ec62 24579 misc extra dupload_1.2.tar.gz
 18c859a111cc03c2cac44359f5511ef0 28594 misc extra dupload_1.2_all.deb

-BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-
Version: 2.6.2i

iQCVAwUBMjgv9dBsuuHx3GhhAQGonwQAsIQO4cUBAjxlcy6Pix35OV4LPz5QPDU1
pGnZFw5PdFsBvMHCQQcg8eTHo7aTQf8CYgNC3xranZdyS4m6RckGQAFgR76lCBhF
7Ek+xSwDjA0xto7T9Rj3gdgYOWpbt3nEZ9T0Cwjcfg9y/6zuQRY5Lkx1p7tMYdfA
zbB5/XgnKwI=
=vBKq
-END PGP SIGNATURE-




Bug#4479: pine tries to use /bin/passwd

1996-09-12 Thread Christoph Lameter
Package: pine
Version: 3.94-3

When trying to do a (S)etup (N)ewpassword from the main menu of pine I get a 
message that
/bin/passwd cannot be found. Debians passwd is in /usr/bin and not in /bin.




Changelog Format

1996-09-12 Thread Brian C. White
Could somebody please point me to the changelog file format?  I'm trying
to build the new 'dftp' package but it keeps dieing on the changelog file.

Please respond by email since I _still_ have not been able to subscribe to
this list.
 
  Brian
 ( [EMAIL PROTECTED] )
 
---
In theory, theory and practice are the same.  In practice, they're not.




Bug#4480: Upgrading dpkg-ftp is a little broken

1996-09-12 Thread Guy Maor
Package: dpkg-ftp
Version: 1.4.3

After upgrading from 1.4.2, it wouldn't work without the user doing a
setup again:

-- Forwarded message --
Date: Thu, 12 Sep 1996 11:32:34 -0500 (CDT)
From: Guy Maor [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: Debian User List debian-user@lists.debian.org
Subject: Re: dpkg-ftp 1.4.3

On Thu, 12 Sep 1996, Alex Romosan wrote:

 i hate to answer my own questions, but after comparing the files in
 1.4.2 to 1.4.3 i've discovered that 1.4.3 will let you set the
 download directory as opposed to 1.4.2 when it was hardcoded. so one
 needs to setup the access mode again and after that everything will
 work just fine. shouldn't this be done automatically when installing
 the package? i think it should. maybe we should consider this a bug.

Yes, I think it's a bug.  1.4.3 could just wipe out the recorded data
in its postinst, forcing you to resetup, or it could come with 1.4.2's
hardcoded location as the default.

I'll file a report.


Guy





Bug#4454: Distribution: unstable' but it goes into project/experimental

1996-09-12 Thread Ian Jackson
Guy Maor writes (Re: Bug#4454: `Distribution: unstable' but it goes into 
project/experimental):
...
 The override files instructed dinstall to put debiandoc-sgml into
 experimental, overriding what was in the .changes file.

Ergh.

 This problem will recur whenever a package moves from one section or
 distribution to another.  dinstall cannot handle this case because it
 doesn't know where to look for the older version to unlink it.

Couldn't it look in the override file ?

 Instead it assumes that the .changes file listed incorrect sections and
 distributions (a fairly frequent occurrence actually), and installs the
 package into the old location.  Since package movements are much more
 rare than .changes files with incorrect locations, dinstall's assumption
 is the right one.

I think that we should try to make .changes files right.  I think the
new source format will help here.  (dchanges made it very easy to say
`Distribution: unstable' without thinking.)

 dinstall could, alternatively, require human intervention in this case.
 But it was written to run as automatically as possible.  It will make a
 recoverable error, which is usually the right thing to do, rather than
 do nothing at all.

Thanks.

 A third alternative is to turn the `Override file lists section as
 ... overriding your choice of ...' message into an error, so the package
 would get rejected.  But this is illogical as it would require MORE
 intervention: maintainers would be forced to reupload new .changes
 files and the distribution maintainer would still have to edit the
 override file.
 
 So I would like to close this bug, as it's not a bug.  Of couse, you
 may be able to suggest a fourth alternative which is better.

Could you report the bad Distribution as a bug, if it turns out to be
true ?

Ian.




Bug#4481: Kernel-related dd bug

1996-09-12 Thread Nikhil Nair
Package: fileutils
Version: 3.12-4

Under a recent kernel, dd seems to produce spurious extra output *only* if
stdout isn't redirected ...

$ echo 'This is a test.' | dd of=/tmp/testing bs=10k conv=sync
0+1 records in
1+0 records out
$ wc /tmp/testing
  1   5   10240 /tmp/testing
$ dd if=/tmp/testing bs=10k count=1
This is a test.
This is a test.
1+0 records in
1+0 records out
$ dd if=/tmp/testing bs=10k count=1 | cat
This is a test.
1+0 records in
1+0 records out
$ uname -a
Linux amasis 2.0.17 #2 Thu Sep 5 00:58:46 BST 1996 i586
$

On an older kernel (everything else the same):

$ echo 'This is a test.' | dd of=/tmp/testing bs=10k conv=sync
0+1 records in
1+0 records out
$ wc /tmp/testing
  1   5   10240 /tmp/testing
$ dd if=/tmp/testing bs=10k count=1
This is a test.
1+0 records in
1+0 records out
$ dd if=/tmp/testing bs=10k count=1 | cat
This is a test.
1+0 records in
1+0 records out
$ uname -a
Linux amasis 1.3.21 #4 Thu Jan 4 21:02:19 GMT 1996 i586
$

Very odd ...

Nikhil.

--
Nikhil Nair
Trinity College, Cambridge, England
Tel.: +44 1223 368353
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
   [EMAIL PROTECTED]






Bug#4482: dpkg-genchanges `-u' option not implemented

1996-09-12 Thread Brian Mays
Package: dpkg-dev
Version: 1.4.0

The `-u' option in the dpkg-genchanges script has not yet been
implemented.

From the man page:

   -uuploadfilesdir
  Look for the files to be uploaded in uploadfilesdir
  rather than  ..   (dpkg-genchanges  needs  to  find
  these  files so that it can include their sizes and
  checksums in the .changes file).

From `dpkg-genchanges -h':

Usage: dpkg-genchanges [options ...]

Options:  ...
  -uuploadfilesdir directory with files (default is `..')




Bug#4454: Distribution: unstable' but it goes into project/experimental

1996-09-12 Thread Guy Maor
On Thu, 12 Sep 1996, Ian Jackson wrote:

 Guy Maor writes (Re: Bug#4454: `Distribution: unstable' but it goes into 
 project/experimental):
  This problem will recur whenever a package moves from one section or
  distribution to another.  dinstall cannot handle this case because it
  doesn't know where to look for the older version to unlink it.
 
 Couldn't it look in the override file ?

How would it know that if the discrepency was a mistake in the .changes
file or a moving package?  I should have said that dinstall can't
handle this case because it can't differentiate it from an incorrect
.changes file.

  Instead it assumes that the .changes file listed incorrect sections and
  distributions (a fairly frequent occurrence actually), and installs the
  package into the old location.  Since package movements are much more
  rare than .changes files with incorrect locations, dinstall's assumption
  is the right one.
 
 I think that we should try to make .changes files right.  I think the
 new source format will help here.  (dchanges made it very easy to say
 `Distribution: unstable' without thinking.)

Yes, that caused problems for me because I had to make certain sections
special, mapping to distributions with the same name.
unstable/contrib, for instance, maps to contrib/contrib.  The new
source format certainly helps, but it doesn't guarantee that this won't
happen.

That reminds me to obsolete dchanges.  Plenty of people are using the
old format, but I'd like to discourage it.

 Could you report the bad Distribution as a bug, if it turns out to be
 true ?

I will make dinstall warn if there was a mistake in the .changes's
Distribution field.


Guy




Re: automated uploading to chiark.

1996-09-12 Thread Guy Maor
On Wed, 11 Sep 1996, Michael Meskes wrote:

 Heiko Schlittermann writes:
  Features:
  * sending mail to debian-changes after
 
 debian-changes? Shouldn't this be debian-devel?

No, see policy manual 6.4.


Guy