Bug#930788: creating /var/lib/dpkg/cmethopt

[Sven Joachim <svenjoac@gmx.de>]

On 2019-06-20 18:19 +0200, Ansgar Burchardt wrote:

> Package: apt,dselect
> Severity: normal
>
> Hi,
>
>   [ X-Debbugs-Cc'ed -boot@ for debootstrap ]
>
> today I learned that debootstrap as special code to create the file
> /var/lib/dpkg/cmethopt (contents: "apt apt"); this is the function
> setup_dselect_method in functions.  It seems wrong that debootstrap
> has to know about such a particular detail.

That code has been in debootstrap forever, at least since woody (the
oldest version on snapshot.debian.org is 0.1.17.7woody1).  I suspect
back in the days this was actually useful, but nowadays rather few
people actually use dselect, and debootstrap should stop creating
/var/lib/dpkg/cmethopt.

> Alternatives to debootstrap might also not create the file at all.
>
> So I wonder if this could be created somewhere else.  An APT developer
> said this is used by dselect and suggested to file a bug against
> apt,dselect; he also had the idea that the file might be created in
> dselect's postinst.

Makes sense, although dselect happily starts without that file; the
admin would have to select an install method and had better know that
they should choose "apt" from the list, but people willingly using
dselect probably can be expected to know what they are doing.

Removing /var/lib/dpkg/cmethopt when dselect is purged seems also
logical to me.

Cheers,
       Sven