On 10/31/05, Benjamin Mesing <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This brings up an issue that is bothering me as a user since a long > time. Whenever I change a config file, I have to take care and examine > changes of the config file in its pacakge. Because most times those > provide some enhancments (e.g. commented out proposals for new options > available), mostly it is a good idea to merge the changes into my own > config. Currently I have to do this merge by hand. However it would be > much smarter to have an option [M]erge when configuring, allowing to > merge the changes into the the local config file [1]. (Of course there > should be also something like: "preview merge" and "preview diff merge > with current config"). > I know this is a little bit tricky, because it requires the old versions > of the config files to be available, and therefore requires a change in > the package system (keeping the old config files in a seperate location > e.g. /var/etc.orig/). > > Now I have two questions: Is such a feature generally desirable? Is > there someone willing to give it some thought and implement it (I am > currently short in time) or should I file a wishlist bug against dpkg?
I think it's a good idea. It'd also allow you to easily find all the changes you made compared to the original conf files, which is handy for backups. > I think having an option "Merge" is far better than just to keep the old > file. New vital changes would be propagated to the administrators > conffiles. Problems would only occur when conflicts appear (detectable), > or if the maintainer uses a deprecated option (not detectable, but > happens with the current solution too). > > Best regards > > Ben > > [1] I'm thinking of something similar to CVS/SVN merge here > > -- > Please do not sent any email to the [EMAIL PROTECTED] - all email not > originating from the mailing list will be deleted automatically. Use the > reply to address instead. > > > -- > To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >
