On Sunday 15 October 2006 06:40, Walter Dnes wrote:
[SNIP]
>   CONFIG_PROTECT and CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK work at the *DIRECTORY* level.
> What I really want/need is a feature that allows additional protection
> *FOR INDIVIDUAL FILES*.  E.g...
>
>   - my customized /etc/conf.d/local.start or /etc/conf.d/local.stop
>     should *NEVER* be replaced with an empty version
>
>   - /etc/rc.conf should be left alone too.  ***FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME,
>     NO I DO NOT WANT NANO REPLACING VIM AS MY "EDITOR"***
>
>   - /etc/conf.d/clock too.  ***FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME, NO I DO NOT WANT
>     MY SYSTEM CLOCK SET TO GMT***
>
>   - /etc/ssmtp/ssmtp.conf too.  ***FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME, NO I DO NOT
>     WANT MY CUSTOMIZED FILE REPLACED WITH AN EXAMPLE FILE***
>
>   And the list goes on and on.  Howsabout an environmental variable
> CONFIG_PROTECT_FILES, containing a list of protected files?  I'm ready
> to submit a feature request if necessary.  Does anybody have additional
> comments?

I suspect you don't really understand what CONFIG_PROTECT{,_MASK} is. Please 
read the output of `emerge --help --config`. All the files you've mentioned 
are covered by CONFIG_PROTECT in a default configuration so if they aren't it 
means you've screwed up your CONFIG_PROTECT and/or CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK 
variables. Otherwise it is you who overwrote those files with 
etc-update/dispatch-conf or whatever you use for that.

I suppose you could work around your own clumsiness ;) by removing the 
mentioned files in post_pkg_postinst of sys-apps/baselayout and 
mail-mta/ssmtp. Something like e.g.:

# mkdir -p /etc/portage/env/sys-apps && \
echo 'post_pkg_postinst() {
    echo "Removing new rc.conf, local.{start,stop} and clock"
    rm -fv ${ROOT}/etc/._cfg????_rc.conf \
           ${ROOT}/etc/conf.d/._cfg????_{local.start,local.stop,clock}
}' >> /etc/portage/env/sys-apps/baselayout

PS: Please don't capitalize your sentences like that. It's really annoying..

-- 
Bo Andresen