Frank Küster <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Hi, > > on the debian-tetex-maint mailing list we often have problems to decide > which of the thousands of TeX input files should be treated as > configuration files - in principle, each of them can be changed in order > to change the behavior of the system. We are currently thinking about a > solution were there would be hardly any conffiles[1], but a local admin > could put copies of any file he likes into subdirectories of /etc/texmf. > This would shadow the dpkg-shipped file in /usr/share/texmf and allow > configuration. And of course we would document this. > > There is one major drawback, however: If a file that has a (changed) > copy in /etc/texmf is changed in the deb, the user gets no notification. > This is at least annoying - but on the other hand, many users have newer > or changed versions in /usr/local/share/texmf or in $HOME/texmf, and > they face the same problem. > > What do others think? Would it be acceptable Policy-wise to handle > configuration like this? > > Regards, Frank
I think other packages have the same problem, gconf comes to mind, and they should sit together and work out a common solution. It would be nice to notify the user about changes in the default config and give the choice of a diff or 3 way merge. Maybe this is something that could be added to ucf (e.g. option --modified-file=/etc/texmf/foo) and then present the user with the same options and frontend as with normal config files. MfG Goswin -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]