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On Mon, Jan 06, 2003 at 01:41:08AM -0000, Dhruba Bandopadhyay wrote: |
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> (1) It is not completely clear which files should be deleted and which |
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> overwritten. |
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Those that you didn't alter may probably be overwritten by the newer version, |
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the others would probably be better left alone, but it's still a good idea to |
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see the new file, for instance if there are new options in the package. |
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I'm glad that Portage doesn't touch my configfiles. I should be prompted (as |
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I am) if there are new configfiles available, and I should be asked if I want |
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to use them or not. So for me Portage is working fine. |
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> (3) There are no guidelines on the use of etc-update. Although, |
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> documentation does warn that etc-update can be dangerous and must be used |
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> with care, how is the non-expert user to interpret this advice and how |
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> much does it really tell him about the use of it? |
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[... From the FAQ ...] |
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When updating a package using emerge or ebuild, how do I avoid clobbering my |
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config files? |
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Portage now includes config file management support by default. Type emerge |
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--help config for more details. The (overly) simple answer is that if a |
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package installs foo somewhere under /etc, and another foo already exists |
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there, then the new foo will instead be renamed to ._cfgxxxx_foo in that |
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directory. A useful tool for examining and updating any protected config |
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files is etc-update, currently obtained by emerge app-admin/gentoolkit. |
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[... From the Portage Manual ...] |
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* etc-update : shell script using vim to assist with the merging of /etc |
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files (can be dangerous if used incorrectly) |
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If I am not mistaken, these are the only documents that mention etc-update. |
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In the Portage Manual is said that it can be dangerous if used incorrectly. |
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This is true, for instace when etc-update wants to use a new /etc/fstab |
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(which has occured frequently) and the user blindly accepts, he will be |
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placed with an illegal /etc/fstab. |
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However, I do believe that the person in question should be held liable for |
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his own actions. If he doesn't read what etc-update sais, he shouldn't use |
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it. |
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Perhaps a nice feature would be that etc-update sais if the original file has |
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been altered by the user or not, thus helping the user in his decision wheter |
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or not to use the new configfile. |
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> (4) If files are not sorted they stay in their locations indefinitely, |
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> increase in number and portage warns the user about them on its every use. |
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Don't tell me you want to disable the warning? There are occasions that ppl |
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just can't easily use etc-update after an emerge -pu world. For instance |
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systems that monitor the state of the important files with AIDE: they need to |
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do a lot more than just accept or decline etc-update proposals. |
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Or you just don't have the time for your configfiles right now; you surely |
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don't want to forget that there are new configfiles available? |
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> (5) Even if one does see differences in older versions and new ones how |
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> does one tell if these differences should be preserved or discarded? |
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Lines with a "-" in front are removed, those with "+" in front are added. So |
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what you see are the differences between the old and the new configfile. |
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> (6) If errors or difficulties result how does one rollback? |
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Not. This could be handy, but also makes the system bigger. Not all ppl want |
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a Portage-handled rollback (I don't), since they have their own way of doing |
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things (it's called backupsà :). |
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> I can speak from experience about suffering from problems. For instance |
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> today, despite sorting files as carefully as I could, gdm won't load |
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> anymore and shows no error messages since gdm files were overwritten |
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> (luckily I use xdm) and also fonts in gnome related applications are now |
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> huge and different because font locations were changed. Now, I did look |
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> at the content of these files before I replaced the older versions but how |
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> is one to know beforehand what is going to cause issues? |
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Welcome to the wonderfull world of learning. |
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Wkr, |
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Sven Vermeulen |
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-- |
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Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity. |
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