motu-release will revert libgems-ruby to the old state.

[Steve Langasek]

On Mon, Sep 01, 2008 at 07:17:29PM +0200, Loïc Minier wrote:

>  For example, libnssmdns mangles /etc/nsswitch.conf to add its entries:
>  this sounds equally intrusive to me.

I for one don't consider that high praise, I'm not happy with packages
taking it upon themselves to edit /etc/nsswitch.conf. :)  By my reading,
that's a violation of Debian Policy ¶ 10.7.4, but one that's been quite low
on my list of bugs to file so long as PAM remained in disarray.

On Mon, Sep 01, 2008 at 01:33:25PM -0400, Mathias Gug wrote:
> This was indeed suggested at the very beginning of the bug thread [1] by
> using /etc/profile.d/. However it was rejected on the following grounds
> [2]:

> base-files (4.0.1ubuntu2) hardy; urgency=low

>   * Implement LSB-3.1, 16.2 (/etc/profile.d). Addresses LP #102105.
>     According to Debian policy 9.9 (Environment variables), programs
>     installed by packages must not depend on environment variables
>     to get reasonable defaults. Do not use this LSB feature to
>     set or modify environment variables.

>   -- Matthias Klose <doko at ubuntu.com> Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:27:17 +0100

> This is related to section 9.9 of the Debian Policy [3], Environment variables:

>   A program must not depend on environment variables to get reasonable
>   defaults. (That's because these environment variables would have to be
>   set in a system-wide configuration file like /etc/profile, which is not
>   supported by all shells.) 

> Colin Watson gave other reasons in bug 18808 [4] related to this issue.

I agree with Loïc here that setting environment variables (via
/etc/profile.d or elsewhere) for the /user's/ benefit should not be
understood as prohibited; this is a prohibition on shipping programs that
depend on environment variables being set for correct operation, not a
prohibition on conditionally setting environment variables from within
packages.

At any rate, /etc/environment seems the more appropriate place to make this
change.  (I don't think /etc/environment.d makes sense - added complexity in
pam_env for precious little gain.)

-- 
Steve Langasek                   Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS
Debian Developer                   to set it on, and I can move the world.
Ubuntu Developer                                    http://www.debian.org/
slangasek at ubuntu.com                                     vorlon at debian.org