On Wednesday 2025-03-26 22:39, Thomas Renninger wrote:
Afaik package provided config files have to move to /usr/etc?
/etc/sysconfig is a bit special. sysconfig files get new VARIABLES= added if missing, but otherwise not modified or deleted on subsequent upgrades, which makes these files (quasi-)customized-configuration that must not be in /usr/etc.
Long story short: How are other distros doing this?
/etc/sysconfig and fillup-templates got introduced in SUSE 8.0. SUSE RPMs (today) do not own /etc/sysconfig/xyz which is in line with the idea that /etc contains host-specific configuration. AlmaLinux and Mandriva RPMs outright own /etc/sysconfig/xyz as %config(noreplace), with all the pain points that _not using_ the fillup mechanism brings (.rpmsave/.rpmnew files). AFAICT Debian never jumped on the sysconfig bandwagon, and the Debian 12 and Debian Sid chroots/nspawns I have around do not have /etc/sysconfig. If there are changes to /etc files, there is a semi-manual process offered <https://serverfault.com/questions/527789/>. Almost as bad as .rpmsave/.rpmnew.
Do we want to get rid of fillup scripts and /etc/sysconfig and how?
Simply put, by making all programs cope with the absence of /etc and, as far as possible, having sane defaults baked into the program executable.