Comment 6 for bug 911339

Good we agree.

Now lets deal with certain other issues.

rpm-3.0 (released in 1998) used a different database format
that needed a --initdb command. This is/was documented in
"Maximum RPM" and carried forward into the "The RPM Guide"
and is easy to find on the WWW with GOOG.

The rpm-4.0.x series had a --verifydb command that wasn't
documented (but was described by me doing "rpm therapy")

Neither --initdb/--verifydb have been needed or very useful
( I forget whether I've removed in rpm-5.3, I have been trying
to remove "legacy cruft" since forever.

---> Should 'legacy compatible' commands be carried and documented?

Please note that --nosignatures --nodigests and a performance speedup
using --nofsync are crucially important to MANDATORY signatures
(coming to an RPM ROADMAP near you soon) and --nofsync (when used)
eliminiates Durability in ACID.

---> Should these options be documented/eliminated or otherwise fiddled
   with to meet user documentation expectations?

I literally do not know the answers: I usually leave "bad enuf" alone, but
that does lead to bug reports like here quite predictably.