Re: [gentoo-user] Cleaning redundant configuration files

[Volker Armin Hemmann <volkerarmin@googlemail.com>]

On Wednesday 01 June 2011 19:53:32 David W Noon wrote:
> On Wed, 01 Jun 2011 20:20:02 +0200, Volker Armin Hemmann wrote about
> 
> Re: [gentoo-user] Cleaning redundant configuration files:
> >On Wednesday 01 June 2011 15:57:58 David W Noon wrote:
> [snip]
> 
> >> I called it an "annoyance".  Having to clean up obsolete
> >> configuration files is just that, unless you can offer a better term.
> >
> >so - what happens when you uninstall a package to cleanly install it
> >again?
> >
> >Happens from time to time - and I seriously would not want to see the
> >carefully personalized config file be moved to the big blue electron
> >pool in heaven.
> 
> That's easy: if you know you are going to reinstall after deleting,
> just take a backup copy of those files you have modified, which is
> usually only the one configuration file.  After the reinstallation,
> restore from your backup.
> 
> Alternatively, you can switch the suggested option to "off", either on
> the command line or in /etc/make.conf.
> 
> This is a fairly rare occurrence, and it should be planned -- including
> the making of a backup.

no, usually something like this happens at 2:30 am without planning because 
the last -uD world fucked everything up and you have tried all other options 
in the last hours. And losing your pure-ftpd user database because of a 
mistype in portage options is a complete nightmare.

There is a simple rule in computing:

NEVER remove user created data

that also applies to config files.

There are ways to check if a file is still needed by something in your system. 
But portage has no business touching something that is not in the same state 
as it was when it was installed.