Re: dpkg config files in /etc ?
On Thu, Oct 08, 1998 at 12:47:09PM -0400, Stephen J. Carpenter wrote: > On Thu, Oct 08, 1998 at 11:48:08AM -0400, Peter S Galbraith wrote: > > > > "Thomas Gebhardt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > > > > the configuration files of all debian packages are located in /etc. > > > That's really fine. > > > > > > But the package manager stores its configuration (access method, > > > list of selected packages, ...) somewhere in /var/lib/dpkg. Why? > > > > Steve Dunham wrote: > > > > > Configuration goes in /etc, state goes in /var. > > > > But the access method is not a state, it's a configuration. > > I would disagree... > In my mind (read; I dn't have a formal definition in front of me) > "State" and "Configuration" have somewhat overlapping definitions. > > My general rule of thinking about it is: > state is an opion within the program which can be changed and > should be remembered next time. > esp something which reasonably could change every time the program > is used (it is concievable I have a CD today...in a month I am FTP > upgrading) > > this is not something which is meant to be changed "by hand" > besides... > the main rational for /var is to allow other partitions to be mounted > read only... > if this were stored in /etc/etc would HAVE to be mounted read-write /etc CAN NOT be mounted, in should be part of root filesystem. And root filesystem is mounted read-write. And /etc/mtab definitly is a state but it should be in root partition. But /var/lib/dpkg/info changes only during upgrading the system. /usr must be remounted read-write for that. So maybe it should go to /usr ? And in any case dpkg should check if /usr is mounted read-write before unpacking a package.
Re: dpkg config files in /etc ?
Hi, > My general rule of thinking about it is: > state is an opion within the program which can be changed and > should be remembered next time. > esp something which reasonably could change every time the program > is used (it is concievable I have a CD today...in a month I am FTP > upgrading) > > this is not something which is meant to be changed "by hand" > besides... There are several packages that supply a -config script to manipulate their config files because their config files are rather complex (e.g., sendmail). The config files are, however, located in /etc. > the main rational for /var is to allow other partitions to be mounted > read only... > if this were stored in /etc/etc would HAVE to be mounted read-write > > (though I supose given the nature of deslect you could argue everything > excpet /home and /usr/local should be read-write...) Yes, when I change the access method or the list of selected packages I am almost certainly going to upgrade the system and therefore /etc and /usr have to be mounted r/w anyhow. My point is that the list of selected packages belongs to the *basic* configuration of a debian system and it should be stored on /etc. We have a whole bunch of different desktop debian machines and I want to be shure that I can restore the state of each machine after a disk crash. To rebuild a single system I need * the knowledge of the physical disk layout * a backup copy of /etc and /home * a debian archive * some information hidden in /var/lib/dpkg It would be fine and consistent, if I could omit the last point. Cheers, Thomas
Re: dpkg config files in /etc ?
On Thu, Oct 08, 1998 at 11:48:08AM -0400, Peter S Galbraith wrote: > > "Thomas Gebhardt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > > the configuration files of all debian packages are located in /etc. > > That's really fine. > > > > But the package manager stores its configuration (access method, > > list of selected packages, ...) somewhere in /var/lib/dpkg. Why? > > Steve Dunham wrote: > > > Configuration goes in /etc, state goes in /var. > > But the access method is not a state, it's a configuration. I would disagree... In my mind (read; I dn't have a formal definition in front of me) "State" and "Configuration" have somewhat overlapping definitions. My general rule of thinking about it is: state is an opion within the program which can be changed and should be remembered next time. esp something which reasonably could change every time the program is used (it is concievable I have a CD today...in a month I am FTP upgrading) this is not something which is meant to be changed "by hand" besides... the main rational for /var is to allow other partitions to be mounted read only... if this were stored in /etc/etc would HAVE to be mounted read-write (though I supose given the nature of deslect you could argue everything excpet /home and /usr/local should be read-write...) -Steve -- /* -- Stephen Carpenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --- <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> */ E-mail "Bumper Stickers": "A FREE America or a Drug-Free America: You can't have both!" "honk if you Love Linux"
Re: dpkg config files in /etc ?
Thomas Gebhardt wrote: > And "debian_version" should go to /var. debian_version is static. It should not go to /var. The fact that it "changes" every time you upgrade the entire system does not make it to be less "static". Otherwise we would have to move /usr to /var as well, since it does also change "most of the time" on upgrades (I don't know of any case of package in Debian 1.3.1 for which there was not a newer version available in Debian 2.0). -- "dcb085e5045286a9c51c91fd1609fc9d" (a truly random sig)
Re: dpkg config files in /etc ?
Hi, > > But the package manager stores its configuration (access method, > > list of selected packages, ...) somewhere in /var/lib/dpkg. Why? > > Configuration goes in /etc, state goes in /var. Ok. So the information about the configured access method and the list of selected packages should be stored in /etc. The information about the packages that are actually installed/available should be found in /var. And "debian_version" should go to /var. Am I right? Thomas
Re: dpkg config files in /etc ?
"Thomas Gebhardt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > the configuration files of all debian packages are located in /etc. > That's really fine. > > But the package manager stores its configuration (access method, > list of selected packages, ...) somewhere in /var/lib/dpkg. Why? Steve Dunham wrote: > Configuration goes in /etc, state goes in /var. But the access method is not a state, it's a configuration. One could also argue that the list of selected packages is also a configuration since it results directly from user _selection_ (almost a synonym for configuration).
Re: dpkg config files in /etc ?
"Thomas Gebhardt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Hi, > > the configuration files of all debian packages are located in /etc. > That's really fine. > But the package manager stores its configuration (access method, > list of selected packages, ...) somewhere in /var/lib/dpkg. Why? Configuration goes in /etc, state goes in /var. Steve [EMAIL PROTECTED]
dpkg config files in /etc ?
Hi, the configuration files of all debian packages are located in /etc. That's really fine. But the package manager stores its configuration (access method, list of selected packages, ...) somewhere in /var/lib/dpkg. Why? If these items would be stored in /etc, one could rebuild the system from scratch solely from a backup copy of /etc and a debian mirror. BTW: /etc/debian_version is not a configurable item (it would be fine to upgrade the system by editing /etc/debian_version :-) Cheers, Thomas -- Th. Gebhardt ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) --- HRZ, Hans Meerwein Strasse,Phone: +49-6421/28-3572 D-35032 Marburg, Germany Fax :-6994
