[Pkg-zfsonlinux-devel] Bug#837049: Bug#837049: Bug#837049: Please configure zfs_arc_max in postinst

[Craig Sanders]

On Sun, Sep 11, 2016 at 07:12:49AM +0200, Petter Reinholdtsen wrote:
> [Craig Sanders]
> > good idea. at the least, we should include an example in the
> > package. e.g. I made the following file for my systems, which I copy
> > to various machines and modify to suit.
>
> Make sense, as long as it isn't stored under /etc/ where any chnages
> to the examples will trigger a conffile question for those enabling
> the option.

that's how conffiles are supposed to work. they'll get a question only
when the package-supplied conffile is both:

1. different from their version of the cf (if any)
2. different from the .dpkg-dist version of it (if any)

i.e. they'll only be asked about it when the package-provided version is
first added or when it's actually changed, not on every package upgrade.

> >> Maybe it should also be registered as a conffile.
> >
> > definitely.
> 
> We do not want the postinst to modify a conffile.  

in general, postinsts shouldn't modify conffiles unless using debconf.
which also has the advantage of making it pre-seedable for automated
installs.

> It will just confuse during upgrades those that have not seen the
> content of the conffile before.

for those who don't have an /etc/modprobe.d/zfs.conf already, the
package version would just be silently installed (which is why it should
only have commented out lines or, at most, sane defaults)

for those who do have one, they'll get to choose whether to use their
version or the package version, as usual.

this is normal and expected behaviour in debian, so anyone annoyed by
it is going to be annoyed by every other package in debian that has
conffiles.


i don't care much whether it's just an example under /usr/share/doc or
if it's a real conffile in /etc/modprobe.d/ - the important thing from
my POV is providing a well-commented example.

craig

--
craig sanders <cas at taz.net.au>