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pwqn

Member

Registered: 2016-11-13

Posts: 3

Pacman just trashed my /etc/i3 configuration with i3-4.13-1 upgrade!

wtf?

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 11,544

Re: Pacman just trashed my /etc/i3 configuration with i3-4.13-1 upgrade!

Why are you configuring it there instead of your home dir?

Those files should probably be in the backup array, but it wouldn't affect most people, as the home dir is the normal way of configuring a WM.

WorMzy

Forum Moderator

From: Scotland

Registered: 2010-06-16

Posts: 11,845

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Re: Pacman just trashed my /etc/i3 configuration with i3-4.13-1 upgrade!

Why wouldn't it? Have you told pacman not to by specifying it in NoUpgrade?

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graysky

Wiki Maintainer

From: :wq

Registered: 2008-12-01

Posts: 10,597

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Re: Pacman just trashed my /etc/i3 configuration with i3-4.13-1 upgrade!

Hmm... shouldn't pacman install a different file to /etc/i3,conf.pacnew and expect the user to diff them?  Is /etc/i3 in the backup array as scimmia said?  Many packages work this way, vim (/etc/vimrc), openssh (/etc/ssh/sshd_config) to name a few.

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pwqn

Member

Registered: 2016-11-13

Posts: 3

Re: Pacman just trashed my /etc/i3 configuration with i3-4.13-1 upgrade!

Why are you configuring it there instead of your home dir?

Those files should probably be in the backup array, but it wouldn't affect most people, as the home dir is the normal way of configuring a WM.

OMG, then where should I put my /etc/systemd/system,/etc/systemd/network,/etc/ssh,/etc/pam.d,/etc/vsftpd,...; I mean, isn't /etc/ designed for users and not package managers?

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 11,544

Re: Pacman just trashed my /etc/i3 configuration with i3-4.13-1 upgrade!

Why are you configuring it there instead of your home dir?

Those files should probably be in the backup array, but it wouldn't affect most people, as the home dir is the normal way of configuring a WM.

OMG, then where should I put my /etc/systemd/system,/etc/systemd/network,/etc/ssh,/etc/pam.d,/etc/vsftpd,...; I mean, isn't /etc/ designed for users and not package managers?

As I said, it should probably be in the backup array, but it's not a huge thing.

pwqn

Member

Registered: 2016-11-13

Posts: 3

Re: Pacman just trashed my /etc/i3 configuration with i3-4.13-1 upgrade!

Why wouldn't it? Have you told pacman not to by specifying it in NoUpgrade?

No! I'm new! My main system is gentoo and it doesn't touch a thing in /etc/ if the config's checksum doesn't match the original. where is NoUpgrade?
Edit: found it; thanks.

Last edited by pwqn (2016-11-13 19:38:57)

Xyne

Administrator/PM

Registered: 2008-08-03

Posts: 6,963

Website

Re: Pacman just trashed my /etc/i3 configuration with i3-4.13-1 upgrade!

There's some confusion in this thread.

Pacman installs all files in a package to the system using the same hierarchy as the package. That may include files in /etc/. That directory is not in any way safe or protected and by default any changes to package files there will be overwritten on upgrade.

Obviously this would be catastrophic for passwd, group and several other files. PKGBUILDs therefor have a "backup" array. When a package detects that the user has changed a file in this array then it will install that file with a ".pacnew" extension. "find /etc/ -name '*.pacnew'" will find these. The user should integrate changes from the new files into existing files and remove the pacnew files as they appear.

i3 should specify the configuration file in a backup array to enable system-wide configuration, even if the user normally copies that file to their home directory. Open a bug report. In the meantime, you can use ABS to add the file to the backup array yourself. You could even provide a patch or the updated PKGBUILD when you open a ticket.

You could use NoUpgrade while waiting for the bug to be fixed, but that is not a long-term solution.

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HiImTye

Member

From: Halifax, NS, Canada

Registered: 2012-05-09

Posts: 1,072

Re: Pacman just trashed my /etc/i3 configuration with i3-4.13-1 upgrade!

To change the configuration of i3, copy /etc/i3/config to ~/.i3/config (or ~/.config/i3/config if you like the XDG directory scheme) and edit it with a text editor.

it's not a bug, it's working as intended

ayekat

Member

Registered: 2011-01-17

Posts: 1,589

Re: Pacman just trashed my /etc/i3 configuration with i3-4.13-1 upgrade!

To change the configuration of i3, copy /etc/i3/config to ~/.i3/config (or ~/.config/i3/config if you like the XDG directory scheme) and edit it with a text editor.

it's not a bug, it's working as intended

If the provided configuration is intended as an example configuration that the user should copy somewhere before editing, it should go into /usr/share/doc or something.
However, it seems that i3 also uses that config (as default if there is no user-config), and thus should be treated like any other configuration file in /etc (i.e. it should be in the backup array, as users may modify it).
So it's not a bug in the i3 software, but in the i3 package.

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