[gentoo-dev] etc-update & ._cfg* files: major issue with gentoo?

[Dhruba Bandopadhyay]

Hello,

I am having great difficulty dealing with one particular feature of gentoo
and would like to bring it to your attention.  I am writing in length
since I very much like gentoo and would like to do whatever I can to
further its progress.

When emerging packages configuration files beginning with ._cfg* are left
in /etc and other locations and on subsequent emerges portage warns that
one has X number of files remaining.  Now, on many occassions I have had
several of these files on my system and have postponed dealing with them
simply because they are a hassle.  Once in a while however, I use
etc-update to sort them with care.

There are many problems with the way this is done for a non-expert user
(which may include myself) and the ones below are only a few of them.

(1) It is not completely clear which files should be deleted and which
overwritten.
(2) Errors can result from making necessary changes using etc-update.
(3) There are no guidelines on the use of etc-update.   Although,
documentation does warn that etc-update can be dangerous and must be used
with care, how is the non-expert user to interpret this advice and how
much does it really tell him about the use of it?
(4) If files are not sorted they stay in their locations indefinitely,
increase in number and portage warns the user about them on its every use.
(5) Even if one does see differences in older versions and new ones how
does one tell if these differences should be preserved or discarded?
(6) If errors or difficulties result how does one rollback?
(7) Shoud sorting be as time consuming as it is currently especially with
the interactive merging of text?

I can speak from experience about suffering from problems.  For instance
today, despite sorting files as carefully as I could, gdm won't load
anymore and shows no error messages since gdm files were overwritten
(luckily I use xdm) and also fonts in gnome related applications are now
huge and different because font locations were changed.  Now, I did look
at the content of these files before I replaced the older versions but how
is one to know beforehand what is going to cause issues?

I am not referring to specific errors here but discussing the
functionality of this feature.  Does this really have to be as much of an
effort and annoyance as it is now and must one lose out on the benefits of
new files simply because they do not dare overwrite the older files?  I
would hate for something like this to be a drawback of an otherwise
automated and applaudable OS.

I hope I have been clear in expressing myself and I don't think for a
minute that I'm alone in this issue.  Hence, I would very much like to
hear comments and suggestions whatever they may be from users and
developers alike.

Best wishes.
-- 
Dhruba Bandopadhyay | dhruba@××××××××××××.uk | ICQ 31628525
Gentoo Linux 1.4rc1 | Vanilla Sources 2.4.20 | Enlightenment 16.5



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