[Soc-coordination] Added Project: Improve Configuration Upgrade Mechansim with Elektra

[Markus Raab]

Hello SOC-Coordination List,

Currently configuration files only gets automatically replaced when no 
modification was done in the configuration file. In every other situation 
the user is prompted if she/he wants the file to be replaced. This detection 
is overly pessimistic and leads to large number of unnecessary required user 
input. Additionally, merges need to be done by hand without tool support.

I propose to reduce that number by using Elektra that has exact knowledge of 
the key/value pairs and its metadata like comments. Then automatic merging 
would be possible in most scenarios and the user would only see real 
conflicts.

No-Goals:
Implementation of mappings between any configuration file to Elektra's 
KeySet. This is done in separate projects within the Elektra's Initiative.

Related work:
https://wiki.debian.org/PackageConfigUpgrade
Elektra's approach allows usage of various programming languages, while 
Config::Model is Perl only. Unlike Config::Model, Elektra is a library to be 
used by the program themselves, thus creating synergies for the code base. 
Eventually, Elektra provides a way for a global key database to be used by 
any application and any user, and is not limited to configuration upgrades.

Further Information:
http://www.libelektra.org

Deliverables of the project:
Provide an Elektra Debconf Integration that does a three-way merge of 
Elektra's KeySet.

Desireable skills:
C/C++, Debian Packaging, ideally Debconf Knowledge

What the student will learn:
About the debian environment, configuration models and three-way merges.


best regards,
Markus Raab