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Revision 1 as of 2014-09-27 18:16:42
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Editor: GuillemJover
Comment: Initial summary of the remove bash from essential proposal
Revision 2 as of 2014-09-30 11:53:10
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Comment: add my 2¢
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      * This will not work. Many systems do not have a root login, and are administered using a normal user account and “sudo”. I like the option below (fallback) better. --mirabilos

This proposal is about moving bash out of the Essential:yes set. The initial discussion can be found in https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2011/04/msg00185.html.

TODO: Fill in the reasons, advantages and disadvantages here.

The following is a list of things (possibly non-exhaustive) that would need to be done before considering removing the Essential:yes field.

  • Check how many packages contain scripts and binaries using bash. Lars posted some scripts and numbers but only for scripts using bash in their shebang.

  • Turn the above into a lintian check.
  • Either:
    • Switch bash scripts that do not use any bashism to POSIX shell scripts.
    • Rewrite bash script to POSIX shell scripts.
    • Switch implicit dependencies on bash to explicit ones.
  • Handle the login issue. 620898

    • Change all shells to abort on removal when they are root's shell.
      • This will not work. Many systems do not have a root login, and are administered using a normal user account and “sudo”. I like the option below (fallback) better. --mirabilos
    • Make sure login will fallback to /bin/sh if the user shell is not available. There's a patch in the bug report which should cover most of the issue.
  • Handle the loss of essentialness for root's shell when unpacking. Guarantee any shell package is always functional.