Bug#1084924: The system-log-daemon virtual package

[Sean Whitton]

Hello,

On Fri 11 Oct 2024 at 01:03pm +02, Helmut Grohne wrote:

> As far as I understand things, this characterization is no longer
> accurate. The system-log-daemon facility used to be singleton, but the
> way systemd approaches it is no longer singleton. You can have:

I think I see a way to distinguish these four cases in a way that gets
everyone what they want.

systemd adds an *empty* binary package
    Package: systemd-journald-is-syslog
    Provides/Conflicts: system-log-daemon

We install systemd-journald-is-syslog by default, probably using a
Recommends from one of systemd's other binary packages.

It's an empty binary package, so journald is still installed and running
if systemd is PID 1, no matter what.  Then:

> * No logging facility.

systemctl disable systemd-journald

systemd-journald-is-syslog can remain or installed or be removed
depending on whether the sysadmin wants to assert to other packages that
a logging facility if available, even though one isn't actually running.

>  * systemd-journald logging to /var/log/journal

This is the default.  systemd-journald-is-syslog is installed.

>  * A traditional system-log-daemon such as rsyslog running on sysvinit.

The sysadmin installs rsyslog, which deinstalls
systemd-journald-is-syslog, in the usual way with virtual packages.
Nothing else about the systemd installation changes.

>  * systemd-journald forwarding logs to a traditional system-log-daemon
>    such as rsyslog.

Well, in this case, systemd and systemd-* are not installed, and rsyslog
Provides system-log-daemon.

-- 
Sean Whitton