Slackware 12.1/12.2 pine/alpine users pay attention!

shadowsnipes · 12-12-2008, 01:06 PM

I noticed when I upgraded my 12.1 install to 12.2 that pine has /etc/pine.conf while alpine has the now typical /etc/pine.conf.new.

The unwary admin might accidentally have their pine.conf file deleted if they remove obolete packages after upgrading as per the UPGRADE.TXT.

Of course everyone is backing up their system before upgrading, right?

niels.horn · 12-12-2008, 03:04 PM

How did you do the upgrade?

The .new files are normally the result of upgrades and need to be checked before substituting the original .conf files.
The slackpkg tool (now part of the base install of Slackware 12.2) automatically checks for .new files after upgrading and gives you the option to check the differences, overwrite the original file (renaming it to .orig), delete the .new file or keep both to check later.

T3slider · 12-12-2008, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by niels.horn

How did you do the upgrade?

The .new files are normally the result of upgrades and need to be checked before substituting the original .conf files.
The slackpkg tool (now part of the base install of Slackware 12.2) automatically checks for .new files after upgrading and gives you the option to check the differences, overwrite the original file (renaming it to .orig), delete the .new file or keep both to check later.

True as that may be, I see shadowsnipes' point here. From CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT:

Code:

*** PACKAGE REMOVALS SINCE 12.1 ***

d/bin86: Removed. Replaced by d/dev86.
n/pine: Removed. Replaced by n/alpine.
extra/parted: Moved to l/ series.
extra/slackpkg: Moved to ap/ series.

The pine package has not been upgraded -- instead it has been replaced by alpine. Therefore, you are supposed to install alpine and then remove pine (it is NOT an upgrade). Since the .conf file will differ between pine and alpine, the .conf.new file will not overwrite the existing .conf file and will remain as .conf.new. Removing the pine package will remove the .conf file with it. The old pine package does not use the .conf.new format and just has the .conf file in the actual package. removepkg removes all files from the package that don't conflict with any other packages. Since the .conf.new file does NOT conflict, the old .conf file WILL be removed. Even worse, I think that if you merge the .config files before removing pine, it may remove the new merged .config file with it...scary stuff. Of course, backups are always good.

Thanks for this tip shadowsnipes.

niels.horn · 12-12-2008, 07:09 PM

OK, it is not an upgrade, but alpine is the evolution of pine and uses pine.conf as its configuration file.

I followed the -current branch and don't remember having problems with the change from pine to alpine (which I do use) while upgrading with slackpkg in August.
Slackpkg probably found the .new file (it uses 'find') and I probably used the 'diff' option of slackpkg to check the differences.

Nothing 'scary' happened here

niels.horn · 12-12-2008, 07:10 PM

OK, it is not an upgrade, but alpine is the evolution of pine and uses pine.conf as its configuration file.

I followed the -current branch and don't remember having problems with the change from pine to alpine (which I do use) while upgrading with slackpkg in August.
Slackpkg probably found the .new file (it uses 'find') and I probably used the 'diff' option of slackpkg to check the differences.

Nothing 'scary' happened here