I noticed a lack of consistency in this. The file I put under /etc/emacs/site-start.d/ was never marked as a conffile, so I must have taken my cue from emacs-policy (which doesn't mention it).
For example, I see: /etc/emacs/site-start.d/00debian-vars.el -> not a conffile /etc/emacs/site-start.d/50octave.el -> conffile What's the answer? Thanks, Peter