[Debconf-devel] Bug#635032: debconf: question data loss in some frontends (teletype, readline, at least)

[Thorsten Glaser]

Package: debconf
Version: 1.5.40
Severity: important

Some debconf frontends fail to display the old data,
leading to possible system corruption e.g. on PAM
library upgrades:

# DEBIAN_FRONTEND=teletype PERL_DL_NONLAZY=1 /usr/share/debconf/frontend sh -c '. /usr/share/debconf/confmodule; db_reset libpam0g/restart-services; db_set libpam0g/restart-services cron; db_input critical libpam0g/restart-services; db_go; db_get libpam0g/restart-services; echo "<$RET>"'
Most services that use PAM need to be restarted to use modules built for this new version of libpam.  Please
review the following space-separated list of init.d scripts for services to be restarted now, and correct it if
needed.

Services to restart for PAM library upgrade:


<>
# DEBIAN_FRONTEND=readline PERL_DL_NONLAZY=1 /usr/share/debconf/frontend sh -c '. /usr/share/debconf/confmodule; db_reset libpam0g/restart-services; db_set libpam0g/restart-services cron; db_input critical libpam0g/restart-services; db_go; db_get libpam0g/restart-services; echo "<$RET>"'
Most services that use PAM need to be restarted to use modules built for this new version of libpam.  Please
review the following space-separated list of init.d scripts for services to be restarted now, and correct it if
needed.

[underscored]Services to restart for PAM library upgrade:


<>
# _

Similarily, the text frontend, if it isn’t the same as readline,
is broken. I couldn’t initialise the slang frontend, but dialog
and editor work correctly (they show the old value of "cron").

This is dangerous because just hitting Enter sets the result
value to '' instead of keeping the old value, like in dialog,
and (worse) the user didn't even know of the old value. Since
most users won't see it though I kept it at non-RC severity,
everyone feel free to raise if needed.

bye,
//mirabilos
-- 
22:59⎜<Vutral> glaub ich termkit is kompliziert | glabe nicht das man
damit schneller arbeitet | reizüberflutung │ wie windows │ alles evil
zuviel bilder │ wie ein spiel | 23:00⎜<Vutral> die meisten raffen auch
nicht mehr von windows | 23:01⎜<Vutral> bilderbücher sind ja auch nich
wirklich verbreitet als erwachsenen literatur	‣ who needs GUIs thus?