Subject: Re: Can we have a /etc/debian in base?

From: [email-masked] (Bruce Perens)
Date: Sat, 1 Jun 96 10:39 PDT

I would prefer that programs that test for debian use /var/lib/dpkg/status .
The presence of this file implies that you can use the facilities of
"dpkg" to determine the versions of various packages. I prefer this
fine-granularity method to simply storing "1.1" in /etc/debian because
many systems will be updated in a piecemal fashion.

Someone please put this Q&A in a FAQ.

	Thanks

	Bruce
--
     Clinton isn't perfect, but I like him a whole lot more than Dole.

Bruce Perens AB6YM          [email-masked]            http://www.hams.com/

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From: Ian Jackson <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 3 Jun 96 15:54 BST

> Someone please put this Q&A in a FAQ.

No, please don't use anything in /var/lib/dpkg without consulting with
me.  /var/lib/dpkg/status is a piece of dpkg's internals, and
shouldn't be messed with.

How about testing for /usr/bin/dpkg ?

Ian.

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From: [email-masked] (Kai Henningsen)
Date: 03 Jun 1996 23:55:00 +0200

[email-masked] (Ian Jackson)  wrote on 03.06.96 in <[email-masked]>:

> > I would prefer that programs that test for debian use /var/lib/dpkg/status
> > . The presence of this file implies that you can use the facilities of

Umm ... _can_ any of these things be used to differentiate between a  
Debian system and, say, a Red Hat system that only has dpkg installed so  
it can use some Debian packages?

MfG Kai

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From: Ian Jackson <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 96 14:25 BST

Kai Henningsen writes ("Re: Can we have a /etc/debian in base?"):
...
> it can use some Debian packages?

What are you trying to test for ?  The existence of dpkg ?  Easy.
Whether all the packages in /usr (say) were installed by dpkg ?
Impossible.  Some other thing ?  Test for it directly, perhaps, or
look for /etc/debian_version.

Ian.

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From: Lars Wirzenius <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 04 Jun 1996 14:24:31 +0300

> it can use some Debian packages?

Probably not.  However, I think someone already mentioned
/etc/debian_version.  Perhaps that would be reliable enough?

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From: Guy Maor <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 16:13:49 -0500 (CDT)

> > it can use some Debian packages?

debian systems have /etc/debian_version
redhat systems have /etc/redhat-release

Both are set up by their respective base packages, so I doubt you'd
find both.

Guy

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From: Chris Fearnley <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 9 Jun 1996 04:16:29 -0400 (EDT)

"Lars Wirzenius wrote:"
> /etc/debian_version.  Perhaps that would be reliable enough?

I don't have an /etc/debian_version on most of my systems.  I think it
must be part of the base package which out of (unfounded) fear I have
not upgraded yet.  And it wasn't there some time ago (0.93??).

-- 
Christopher J. Fearnley            |    Linux/Internet Consulting
[email-masked]                     |    UNIX SIG Leader at PACS
http://www.netaxs.com/~cjf         |    (Philadelphia Area Computer Society)
ftp://ftp.netaxs.com/people/cjf    |    Design Science Revolutionary
"Dare to be Naive" -- Bucky Fuller |    Explorer in Universe

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 96 23:38 EDT

Chris>  I don't have an /etc/debian_version on most of my systems.  I think
  Chris> it must be part of the base package which out of (unfounded) fear I
  Chris> have not upgraded yet.  And it wasn't there some time ago (0.93??).

As they say "Just do it!". You will have to hand-edit /etc/{groups,passwd}
but has the benefit of giving the new default uids and gids reserved for
cerian parts of the system.

And it answers this thread as it offers /etc/debian_version, due to a rather
sane (compated to other, more recent ones :-() request by RMS...

--
Dirk Eddelb"uttel                             http://qed.econ.queensu.ca/~edd