Bug#1084924: The system-log-daemon virtual package

On Fri, Nov 08, 2024 at 06:54:26AM +0100, Ansgar 🙀 wrote:
> On Thu, 2024-11-07 at 15:46 +0000, Matthew Vernon wrote:
> > On 07/11/2024 10:03, Helmut Grohne wrote:
> > > Indeed, we can lift Bastian's mail into a proper proposal. Logging
> > > services are generally assumed to be available. It becomes the
> > > responsibility of the init system or container runtime. The
> > > system-log-daemon virtual package mainly serves as an exclusion
> > > mechanism. Alternative init systems such as sysvinit-core should
> > > issue a
> > > dependency or recommendation on it.
> Random packages not installing system facilities like system-wide log
> services was already suggested as a solution earlier:
> 
> 1. What should decide whether system-wide logging facilities exist?
> Some central defaults or random packages (say foobard) shipping a
> daemon?

We already have a precedence: systemd, runit and all those container
runtimes consider logging as a system facility.  So it would be the task
of the equivalent package: sysvinit or initscripts.

Just think who is responsible for filesystem mounts: systemd, container
runtime, initscripts.

> 1a. If not random packages, should policy be updated to recommend
> packages not doing that?

Add what?  I don't even see anything about syslog in it right now.

Bastian