[Debconf-devel] Bug#1063817: debconf-copydb pipe writes to GLOB file instead of stdout

[Dan Bungert]

Package: debconf
Version: 1.5.85
Severity: normal
X-Debbugs-Cc: daniel.bungert at canonical.com

Dear Maintainer,

While debugging a FTBFS in Ubiquity, I observed that the usage of
debconf-copydb regressed when using version 1.5.85 of debconf. The
previous-in-Ubuntu version 1.5.82 of debconf was OK.

That invocation looks roughly like:
debconf-copydb templatedb pipe --config=Name:pipe --config=Driver:Pipe
--config=InFd:none ...

Bisecting debconf from there found commit
5db857ade00953496bfdb7edb884296bebc41885:
"Avoid two-argument open"

Further tracing found the following change to Debconf/DbDriver/Pipe.pm
around line 120:
- open ($fh, '>-');
+ open ($fh, '>', \*STDOUT);

An additional symptom of this problem is GLOB files are created in CWD
with names that look like:
GLOB(0x0123456789ab)

Pointing the above to above to configdb on a fairly stock Debian Sid
installation produces an equivalent result - GLOB file creation
instead of the output.

Is the 3-argument form this?
open ($fh, '>&', \*STDOUT);

Originally filed as LP: #2052982.

-Dan