#1134424 4 packages have a directory metadata conflict on /var/log/news

Package:
inetutils-syslogd,slrnpull
Source:
inetutils-syslogd slrnpull
Submitter:
Helmut Grohne
Date:
2026-05-05 22:09:03 UTC
Severity:
normal
#1134424#5
Date:
2026-04-18 05:52:56 UTC
From:
To:
The file /var/log/news is contained in the packages
 * inetutils-syslogd/2:2.7-5 as present in forky|unstable
   (root:root 0755)
 * inn/1:1.7.2q-52+b1 as present in forky|unstable
   (news:news 0755)
 * inn2/2.7.4~20250809-1 as present in forky|unstable
   (news:news 0775)
 * inn2/2.7.4~20250809-1+b1 as present in forky|unstable
   (news:news 0775)
 * slrnpull/1.0.3+dfsg-10 as present in forky|unstable
   (root:root 0755)

These packages can be unpacked concurrently, because there is no
relevant Replaces or Conflicts relation.  When unpacking these packages
concurrently, directory metadata depends on the unpack order.

Please determine the appropriate metadata for the mentioned file and
reassign and/or clone the bug to the packages that require changes.
When doing so, please add the other packages to the set of affected
packages using "Control: affects -1 + <packagename>" to avoid the filing
of duplicates.

Kind regards

Helmut Grohne
#1134424#10
Date:
2026-04-19 21:30:03 UTC
From:
To:
Control: reassign -1 inetutils-syslogd,slrnpull
Control: affects -1 + inn inn2
Good catch. These are wrong, INN is right.

Since rsyslogd stopped handling news.* long ago, inetutils-syslogd
should do the same.
slrnpull maybe should conflict with news servers because it appears they
are not supposed to be used together, but I am not familiar with it.
#1134424#19
Date:
2026-04-19 21:53:03 UTC
From:
To:
Hi Marco,

Beware that inn and inn2 disagree about the mode of /var/log/news. Your
reassignment only addresses the ownership/group aspect of the problem.

Could you clone the bug and assign one to each package that needs a
change here? Could you indicate the precise desired ownership, group and
mode?

Helmut
#1134424#24
Date:
2026-04-19 22:01:46 UTC
From:
To:
It does not really matter, because nothing runs as group news with
a user different from news.
#1134424#29
Date:
2026-04-19 22:13:31 UTC
From:
To:
Hi Marco,

While it does not matter for the operation of those inn servers, it does
matter as soon as dpkg verifies filesystem metadata. Then dpkg --verify
might complain about an installation containing either package. It also
is not that much of a problem for inn and inn2, as they conflict. For
inetutils-syslogd, this is a problem. If it chooses 0755, it'll be
conflicting with inn2 and if it chooses 0775, it'll be conflicting with
inn.

Please choose a common mode for the inn servers.

Helmut
#1134424#34
Date:
2026-04-27 08:04:50 UTC
From:
To:
Hi,

* Helmut Grohne <helmut@subdivi.de> [2026-04-20 00:13]:

If nothing needs 0775, I propose we use 0755 for all four packages. Do
you agree?

Nicolas.
#1134424#39
Date:
2026-04-27 08:33:17 UTC
From:
To:
Yes, but see my first reply.
#1134424#44
Date:
2026-05-05 16:45:22 UTC
From:
To:
* Marco d'Itri <md@linux.it> [2026-04-27 10:33]:

Regarding inetutils-syslogd, I agree it can stop creating this
directory.

Regarding slrnpull, I am not familiar with running a news server, but
while it seems useless to have it installed at the same time as a
server, I do not think we need to forbid it, there is nothing really
preventing it from working.

Nicolas.