[Pkg-shadow-devel] Bug#1074157: non-essential login breaks runuser

[Helmut Grohne]

Package: login
Version: 1:4.15.1-1
Severity: grave
Control: affects -1 + util-linux

Hi Chris et al,

while I recommend making stuff non-essential, I think the process was
suboptimal for login. I already had to fix debvm without having seen an
advance notice and now I figured that it actually breaks runuser. The
following command used to work before login became non-essential:

mmdebstrap unstable /dev/null --variant=apt --chrooted-customize-hook="runuser -u nobody echo ok"

This now gives:

runuser: failed to establish user credentials: Permission denied

I think that util-linux must gain Depends: login before login can become
non-essential (and thereby it becomes transitively essential making the
exercise a little pointless, but maybe there is a different solution).
Hence, I request reverting the change for now and redoing it once its
implications are better understood and the fallout is handled more
proactively.

Helmut