Package: tech-ctte
Control: block 921012 by -1
Control: block 964139 by -1
X-Debbugs-CC: debian-init-divers...@chiark.greenend.org.uk
Dear Technical Committee,
This bug report relates specifically to bugs in the network-manager
package (#921012, #964139) but has broader implications, particularly
around what it means to "support the efforts of developers"[0] working
on support for alternative init systems (I will talk about sysvinit here
without loss of generality to other non-systemd init systems).
In brief:
#921012 is about changing network-manager to Depend upon "default-logind
| logind" rather than libpam-systemd
#964139 is about restoring the removed network-manager init script which
was removed from the package. There is no suggestion that the init
script was buggy
Both changes are necessary for it to be possible to install
network-manager on a sysvinit system; it is going to be hard to use
Debian without network-manager.
Both bugs have sat open for extended periods with no input from the
maintainer; so I prepared an NMU and uploaded it to DELAYED/14 as well
as making an MR on salsa[1].
The NMU was declined, on the basis that removing the init script was not
a mistake; I'm not aware of any rationale being provided beyond that for
refusing either patch.
I'm afraid the effect of this is that the maintainers of this package
are making it impossible for other developers to enable support of
sysvinit. There are people[2] who will (and have) test compatibility
changes, help with issues with sysvinit scripts, and so on, but those
efforts are in effect being stonewalled.
The effect of this, and equivalent behaviour in some other packages, is
that it is going to be impossible to make a useful Bullseye for users
who want to use sysvinit.
I (and a couple of other interested parties) have approached the DPL
about this matter on a number of occasions this year, and have tried to
follow their advice where possible. I regret that it has proved
necessary to involve the technical committee.
I invite the technical committee to rule that:
* The network-manager init script should be restored
* Network-manager should Depend: on default-logind | logind rather than
libpam-systemd
* Similar init-compatibility changes should not be blocked by package
maintainers unless they are defective on their own merits
* These changes be made in time to be effective in Bullseye
Regards,
Matthew
[0] From the wording of the winning option in the 2019 Init systems GR
[1] https://salsa.debian.org/utopia-team/network-manager/-/merge_requests/7
[2] e.g the mailing list debian-init-divers...@chiark.greenend.org.uk of
people who are more than happy to help with this sort of thing
