Comment 0 for bug 573168

Binary package hint: dpkg

I'm certain this has been reported before, but I can't find the bug after much searching...

dpkg currently gives this message when it tries to install a configuration file over an customization:

<pre>Configuration file `/etc/configfile'
 ==> Modified (by you or by a script) since installation.
 ==> Package distributor has shipped an updated version.
   What would you like to do about it ? Your options are:
    Y or I : install the package maintainer's version
    N or O : keep your currently-installed version
      D : show the differences between the versions
      Z : background this process to examine the situation
 The default action is to keep your current version.
*** issue (Y/I/N/O/D/Z) [default=N] ?</pre>

Given that we have a "base", "theirs" and "mine", it seems a simple change to add an "M: attempt to merge" option.

All of the 12 or so prompts I was given when upgrading to Lucid could have been resolved this way. Even if the merge fails and there are conflicts (unlikely), I would still prefer to resolve the conflict manually than blindly throw away either my or the maintainer's edits.

==== Implementation suggestion:

First prompt would look like this:

<pre>Configuration file `/etc/configfile'
 ==> Modified (by you or by a script) since installation.
 ==> Package distributor has shipped an updated version.
   What would you like to do about it ? Your options are:
    Y or I : install the package maintainer's version
    N or O : keep your currently-installed version
      M : attempt to merge the differences
      D : show the differences between the versions
      Z : background this process to examine the situation
 The default action is to keep your current version.
*** issue (Y/I/M/N/O/D/Z) [default=N] ?</pre>

If the merge fails with conflicts, bring up a second prompt:

<pre>Configuration file `/etc/configfile'
 ==> Modified (by you or by a script) since installation.
 ==> Package distributor has shipped an updated version.
   What would you like to do about it ? Your options are:
    Y or I : install the package maintainer's version
    N or O : keep your currently-installed version
      M : manually resolve the conflicting differences
      D : show the differences between the versions
      Z : background this process to examine the situation
 The default action is to keep your current version.
*** issue (Y/I/M/N/O/D/Z) [default=N] ?</pre>