Bug#706110: libgnome{, vfs}2-common: fails to upgrade from squeeze: prerm failure: gconf-schemas: not found

[Michael Biebl]

Am 25.04.2013 01:11, schrieb Michael Biebl:
> According to jwilk, this is a issue in the python package:
> <jwilk> mbiebl: I'm pretty sure it's not /usr/sbin/gconf-schemas that is
> missing, but /usr/bin/python (which is is -schema's shebang).
> <jwilk> Or more precisely, /usr/bin/python is there, but it's dangling.
> <jwilk> I looked at the build log and yeah, this is what happend: python
> is upgraded from 2.6 to 2.7, making /usr/bin/python dangling, because
> python2.7 is not unpacked yet.
> <jwilk> Then libgnome2-common is unpacked, which doesn't work without
> working /usr/bin/python.
> <jwilk> s/unpacked/prerm'ed/ in the last sentence.

Adding an empty prerm can be considered a hack at best. Given that we
have 220+ packages which ship gconf schemas, adding it back to a single
package would be an incomplete fix anyway.

dondelelcaro on #debian-devel suggested:

<mbiebl> dondelelcaro: as for pre-depends: where would you add that?
<dondelelcaro> mbiebl: to python-minimal
<dondelelcaro> mbiebl: because right now, the Depends doesn't take
effect until python-minimal is configured, even when it is unpacked.
<dondelelcaro> mbiebl: so that's why you have a dangling symlink
<dondelelcaro> mbiebl: so if something that calls gconf-schema gets
called after python-minimal is unpacked, but before python2.7 is, you
get breakage.

jwilk suggested:
<jwilk> Don't use Python (or anything non-essential) in maintainer
scripts (except maybe postinst), ever.

Looking at /usr/bin/gconf-schemas, it's a rather simple python script.
Re-implementing it in shell shouldn't be too hard.

release team, any opinions, preferences how to address this bug?

Michael

-- 
Why is it that all of the instruments seeking intelligent life in the
universe are pointed away from Earth?

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