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List:       gentoo-user
Subject:    Re: [gentoo-user] config file '/etc/mtab' needs updating
From:       Rich Freeman <rich0 () gentoo ! org>
Date:       2023-04-11 13:34:23
Message-ID: CAGfcS_mfXSMj++8gTO_=h-dnPo-RgdsK2RGaDHpWAvDXHqVQqw () mail ! gmail ! com
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On Tue, Apr 11, 2023 at 9:14 AM Matt Connell <matt@connell.tech> wrote:
>
> On Mon, 2023-04-10 at 23:44 -0600, thelma@sys-concept.com wrote:
> > After update I get:
> > * IMPORTANT: config file '/etc/mtab' needs updating.
> >
> > What is this, don't remember seeing it before.
> >
> > cfg-update -u
> > doesn't give me an option to view it.
> >
> >
>
> dispatch-conf will show you what is being changed and give you the
> option to use/zap the change.
>
> I never even knew cfg-update existed (I've always used dispatch-conf).
>

I'm guessing cfg-update doesn't understand symlinks, and obviously
they can't be conventionally edited.

cfg-update is a bit crufty, but its main advantage is support for
3-way merges, which are usually automated.  So if you change one line
in the middle of a config file you won't have to manually go through
diffs to re-apply the change every time it is updated.  If the section
immediately around the line you edited didn't change, then it will
just accept the upstream changes while maintaining your customization.
It uses RCS, which is obviously dated.  I'm maintaining it, so patches
are welcome, but I'm not really putting any effort into it.

As others have pointed out, it should be a symlink to
/proc/self/mounts, as with the increasingly more popular use of mount
namespaces there is no system-wide concept of what is/isn't mounted
where.  With the symlink each process will see what is actually
mounted in its own namespace, avoiding leaking info from the host
namespace, and also avoiding providing information that is incorrect
from the process's perspective.

-- 
Rich

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