I currently see three practical solutions out of the dilemma (that
/etc/crontab is edited by the sysadmin and scripts):
(a) We set up another crontab (say /etc/crontab.deb) which is maintained
by install-cronjob only. The current /etc/crontab will stay a
conffile and only be touched by the sysadmin.
Disadvantage: The sysadmin might want to remove (or change) an entry
of /etc/crontab.deb too, so we didn't solve any problems.
(b) We set up a certain directory (say /usr/lib/cronjobs) where each
package can install its own crontab file (/usr/lib/cronjobs/foo).
Disadvantage: See above.
(c) We split /etc/crontab into two "areas". The install-cronjob script
will only touch one area, while the sysadmin can touch both. For
example:
# /etc/crontab
# Sysadmin's private area: Do whatever you like to do here.
# Nothing will be changed automatically...
* * * * * root rm -rf /
# (I hope noone installs this crontab :)
# ----------------------------------------------------------
# automatic area: You can do changes to this area, but packages
# might add or remove new entries via install-cronjob
# ---entry from package foo1---
* * * * * root something
# ---entry from package foo2---
....
This keep all cronjobs in a single file which makes life easier for
the sysadmin, I think.
Note, that the install-cronjob script should be smart enough to
handle commented-out cron entries correctly (they should stay
commented-out during package upgrades).
Comments?
Thanks,
Chris
-- Christian Schwarz
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