reassign 587377 debian-policy retitle 587377 debian-policy: Decide on arbitrary file/path names limit severity 587377 wishlist thanks
Hi! On Sun, 2010-06-27 at 21:03:28 -0400, Aaron M. Ucko wrote: > Package: dpkg > Version: 1.15.7.2 > Severity: important > > dpkg won't let me install (upgrade to) the latest version of sbcl-doc: > > Preparing to replace sbcl-doc 1:1.0.34.0-1.1 (using > .../sbcl-doc_1%3a1.0.39.0-1_all.deb) ... > Unpacking replacement sbcl-doc ... > dpkg: error processing > /var/cache/apt/archives/sbcl-doc_1%3a1.0.39.0-1_all.deb (--unpack): > unable to clean up mess surrounding > `./usr/share/doc/sbcl-doc/html/sbcl/Method-sb_002dbsd_002dsockets_003asocket_002dmake_002dstream-_0028_0028socket-socket_0029-_0026key-input-output-_0028element_002dtype-_0027character_0029-_0028buffering-full_0029-_0028external_002dformat-default_0029-tim' > before installing another version: File name too long > dpkg-deb: subprocess paste killed by signal (Broken pipe) (This error is from dpkg trying to cleanup in case a previous run was interrupted half-way, which was not the case here, but rename(2) validates first the arugments so it returns with ENAMETOOLONG instead of the usual ENOENT or ENOTDIR.) > I'll mark sbcl-doc as affected, but I'd argue that this is ultimately > a bug in dpkg for being unable to cope with such long filenames or > perhaps in dpkg-dev for allowing them into packages; one way or > another, there should not be skew, particularly in that direction. This is not really a dpkg bug, the limitation is not actually coming from it, it's coming from the kernel and/or specific file system implementation. I don't consider it appropriate to add an arbitrary limit in dpkg itself, when it can handle long file/path names just fine. Given that this might cause problems depending on the different support from the build and host machines this should be considered a matter of policy, and as such “enforced” by lintian or ftp-master for example, if at all. I'm thus reassigning it to debian-policy, so that an arbitrary limit can be decided if desired. thanks, guillem -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-bugs-dist-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
