On Sun, 2011-01-09 at 11:37 -0700, susmit shannigrahi wrote: > > My understanding was that we never touch databases in RPMs, period. We > > don't create, modify, update, or remove. I can't recall at the moment > > where this stems from, but the rationale, as I recall, was that we can > > never be sure if the database is available at RPM install/upgrade time. > > Plus, the consquences of a failed or interrupted RPM transaction on the DB > > could be. . interesting. > > > > So, in short, don't do it, and but if no one can find a citation in the > > guidelines someone ought to write a draft, for that way lies madness. :) > > Thanks for your help. > I shall take these to upstream. I think, just in case it's not clear, that the typical way this should be handled is that on installation the software should not create the necessary database; instead the creation process should be documented for the user to complete manually. So when the software is packaged, there's no problem, as there's no database operation to handle. This is how all mature, popular apps that rely on databases work. For instance, when you install Wordpress, you then go through a short 'setup' process which prompts you to manually create the necessary databases and configure Wordpress to be able to access them. Normally, when the software is updated, on the next run it should automatically make any necessary changes to its own database (since obviously it now has the required access privileges). If there is a major update that requires changes to the database that cannot be automated, then again, these should be documented for the user to carry out, no crazy 'overwrite or no' interactive options during package install. Your next step should be to outline this to upstream, and show examples of widely-used database apps such as Wordpress and MythTV and so on. -- Adam Williamson Fedora QA Community Monkey IRC: adamw | Fedora Talk: adamwill AT fedoraproject DOT org http://www.happyassassin.net -- devel mailing list devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/devel
