[Pkg-sysvinit-devel] Bug#443247: libpam0g: During configuration, "restart" kdm "starts" it!

[Ryo Furue]

Hi,

Thanks for the message!

| The described behavior is according to the Debian policy
| <URL:http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-opersys.html>, which
| in section 9.3.2 "Writing the scripts" reads:
| 
|   Packages that include daemons for system services should place
|   scripts in /etc/init.d to start or stop services at boot time or
|   during a change of runlevel. These scripts should be named
|   /etc/init.d/package, and they should accept one argument, saying
|   what to do:
| 
|     start   - start the service, 
|     stop    - stop the service, 
|     restart - stop and restart the service if it's already running,
|               otherwise start the service
| 
| A restart will start the service if it isn't already running, and it
| is no bug.  invoke-rc.d just pass on a restart to the service script
| as long as it is not configured using policy-rc.d to disable a given
| service.  The issue here was the system admins expectations, which
| where not in line with the Debian policy.

Instead of arguing whether it's a bug or not, I'd like to ask if it's
a desirable behavior or not.  And if the answer to the latter question
is a "no", then I'd like to ask whether it can be fixed or not,
without breaking something else.

The problem at hand is this:  When you upgrade libpam0g in the
single-user mode, you are asked if you want to "restart" KDE.
Yes, according the policy you site "restart" means "start" when KDE
isn't running.  But, could we still avoid potential confusion even if
the admin doesn't know the policy or has forgotten it?  I think the
answer is yes, either by

1) Not asking whether the admin wants to "restart" KDE, if it's not
  running;

2) Not "restart"-ing KDE if the system isn't in a right init state;

3) Adding a warning to the message issued by the configuration script
  of libpam0g to state that KDE should be restarted only when it's
  running.

4) . . . what else?

I think pressing just the return key during a configuration should be
as safe as possible.  I think this kind of "kindness" or
"consideration" to the user adds to the perceived sense of quality of
Debian as a whole.  Debian configuration is generally very well and
carefully thought out and it handles many issues gracefully.  So, I
was surprised that the configuration script of libpam0g tries to
start KDE in the single-user mode, one of whose purposes is
specifically to obtain a minimal non-GUI environment for admin tasks.

Best Regards,
Ryo