Bug#990344: exim 4.94.2 update default configuration option breaks MTA

[sawbona at xsmail.com]

Hello:

Thank you for taking the time to write.

> ... exim packages do not change/edit the file, if it was changed
> then manually.
Right.
The userland cannot change it, it's only through *manual* edition.
Now I'm *sure* I didn't change anything.

I had never seen the insides of an exim config file till I had this 
problem.

> > ... related to (at least one) of the settings that need to be
> > changed for the exim4 configuration to be compatible
> > with exim 4.94.2.
> Sounds reasonable, yes.
I thought as much also.

> If you are not sure what you did change ...
No.

What I wrote was that I did not remember *ever* changing anything.
But that I was *not absolutely certain* of not having done it.

Not the same thing.  

I any case, it is a moot point.
ie: it has no relevance with respect to the case I have been 
attempting to make which is this:

Whether *any* of the configuration files were changed or not, a basic
fact (which you find attendable/reasonable) remains:

*Any* configuration file belonging to a version *previous* to exim 
4.94.2, modified or not, will effectively break exim 4.94.2.

eg: any configuration file containing *$local_part* instead of 
*$local_part_data*. 

If the dpkg installer considers no config file have been modified, it
will overwrite then and everything will be allright.

But ...

If (for whatever reason) the dpkg installer considers some config 
file has been modified, it will recommend a default option that will
break the MTA.

If I may suggest:

It would make a lot more sense (and would have saved me a lot of 
grief) if the exim 4.94.2 installer would have popped up something 
like this:

-----

WARNING

All exim versions prior to version 4.94.2 are now obsolete.

As a result, *all* existing configurations set up with versions prior
to exim 4.94.2 will effectively break this installation.

The exim installation being updated is prior to exim version 4.94.2.

It is emphatically recommended that you do not keep the present 
configuration.

What do you want to do?

1. Replace the present configuration (recommended default)
2. Keep the present configuration
3. Open a terminal and compare the configuration files

----

Thanks for your input.