Package: dpkg
Version: 1.16.1.2
Severity: normal
Consider the following:
1. A package foo, version 1-1, with a conffile /etc/foo.cfg
3. Version 1-1 of foo is installed on a user's system
4. The user rebuilds foo, changing the version by appending 'local1'
(e.g., by running "dch -l local") and installs the rebuilt package
2. Version 2-1 of foo, that removes /etc/foo.cfg by invoking
dpkg-maintscript-helper's rm_conffile action
When the user upgrades from foo 1-1local1 to 2-1, the following
maintainer scripts are executed:
1. foo 1-1local1: prerm upgrade 2-1
2. foo 2-1: preinst upgrade 1-1local1
3. foo 1-1local1: postrm upgrade 2-1
4. foo 2-1: postinst configure 1-1local1
In foo 2-1's preinst, we have the line:
dpkg-maintscript-helper rm_conffile 1-1 /etc/foo.cfg
dpkg-maintscript-helper contains the following code:
if [ "$1" = "install" -o "$1" = "upgrade" ] && [ -n "$2" ] &&
dpkg --compare-versions "$2" le-nl "$LASTVERSION"; then
prepare_rm_conffile "$CONFFILE" "$PACKAGE"
fi
The version check will fail because of the local version applied by the
user:
$ dpkg --compare-versions 1-1local1 le-nl 1-1; echo $?
1
And the conffile will not be removed.
Is the user in the wrong here? debian-faq says no, as it specifically
advises the user of dch -l when performing a local build. The user
cannot know when he's rebuilding the package that a subsequent version
will remove the conffile, and the package maintainer cannot know that a
user has rebuilt the package locally.
The same will happen when NMUs are prepared, if the package maintainer
is not careful about the version number that they invoke rm_conffile
with.
-- System Information:
Debian Release: wheezy/sid
APT prefers testing
APT policy: (530, 'testing'), (520, 'unstable'), (510, 'experimental')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)
Kernel: Linux 3.2.0-1-amd64 (SMP w/2 CPU cores)
Locale: LANG=en_GB.utf8, LC_CTYPE=en_GB.utf8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash
Versions of packages dpkg depends on:
ii coreutils 8.13-3
ii libbz2-1.0 1.0.6-1
ii libc6 2.13-24
ii libselinux1 2.1.0-4.1
ii xz-utils 5.1.1alpha+20110809-3
ii zlib1g 1:1.2.3.4.dfsg-3
dpkg recommends no packages.
Versions of packages dpkg suggests:
ii apt 0.8.15.9
-- Configuration Files:
/etc/dpkg/dpkg.cfg changed [not included]
-- no debconf information
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