#include <hallo.h> * Manoj Srivastava [Wed, Dec 03 2003, 04:19:59AM]:
> > - current md5sums file in control.tar.gz should contain checksums of > > really all files > > Hard to do for conffiles. Now, if the md5sums were generated Then only add the m5sums of the control.tar.gz contents and add it to the list created my dh_md5sums. > at install time, you could checksum my locally modified conffile > (even if I did not accept the maintainers changes). The md5sums > stored for conffiles currently are rarely any good, since the files > are often modified by the admin. This needs more work. I think Debian should archive the original versions of conffiles on the target filesystem anyways - the absence of them is a handicap for any long-term solution. > > - a signature of the md5sums file should be stored either in > > control.tar.gz or in the ar file itself > > So you have to download the package itself to check the > contents of the md5sum fule? Why not generate the md5sums at this > point anyway? Or they can be stored in the Extended-Contents-* files (or such) in the archive for random access, see the original mail and others. > > - new dpkg version should pickup the signature files and store them > > either in /var/lib/dpkg/info or in some alternative directory > > Or you could sign the newly generated md5sum files at install > time, complete with the checksums of the locally modified conffiles, > and not have to depend on knowing the key of the persons producing > the Packages file. But then you depend on a key that has stored on the local system - and I am not sure whom the user should trust more when the system has been compromised. And, as said, it requires additional work during the installation. MfG, Edurd. -- Die besten Reformer, die die Welt je gesehen hat, sind jene, die bei sich selbst anfangen. -- George Bernard Shaw