Bug#412976 repoened - reassign tech-ctte (mixmaster /etc/default/*)
[BTS control messages were sent separately]
I ask resolution for the following dispute
http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=412976
Please find resolution to the dispute where a bug was filed to ask
to use /etc/default/mixmaster to control the daemon start/stop
behavior.
The package maintainer disagrees and has closed the bug.
Introduction
The bug report was based on understanding of the Policy's section:
9.3.2. Writing the scripts
--------------------------
Often there are some variables in the `init.d' scripts whose values
! control the behavior of the scripts, and which a system administrator
! is likely to want to change. As the scripts themselves are frequently
`conffile's, modifying them requires that the administrator merge in
their changes each time the package is upgraded and the `conffile'
changes. To ease the burden on the system administrator, such
configurable values should not be placed directly in the script.
! Instead, they should be placed in a file in `/etc/default', which
typically will have the same base name as the `init.d' script. This
extra file should be sourced by the script when the script runs. It
must contain only variable settings and comments in POSIX `sh' format.
It may either be a `conffile' or a configuration file maintained by
the package maintainer scripts. See Section 10.7, `Configuration
files' for more details.
Marked lines (!) were the basis of the bug, where "control of
behavior" was undestood as "control the start or stop the daemon".
Background and history
The current mixmaster contains configurations files:
/etc/mixmaster/
allpingers.txt
client.conf
filter.conf
network.conf
remailer
! remailer.conf
update.conf
Of which, the marked (!) file contains line:
REMAIL n
The line is used by the
/etc/init.d/mixmaster
to decide if the daemon will start at boot or via "start" command.
Compatibility and benefits
If the setting were in /etc/default/*, the benefits are would be as
policy says: "To ease the burden on the system administrator". To
keep the control settings in a canonical place would make the
packages and programs more manageable in the long run.
Other packages that use the daemon control settings:
$ grep -i enable /etc/default/*
bind9: ENABLE=no
bootlogd: BOOTLOGD_ENABLE=No
cryptdisks: CRYPTDISKS_ENABLE=Yes
dbus: ENABLED=1
debtorrent-client: DEBTORRENT_ENABLE=true
debtorrent-tracker: DEBTORRENT_TRACKER_ENABLE=false
mon: ENABLED="yes"
rsync: RSYNC_ENABLE=false
spamassassin: ENABLED=1
...
Jari
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