Comment 6 for bug 1701852

Regarding the bug itself: I wouldn't exactly call it a regression, but it wasn't a super-intended change either. If I see it right I "broke" it in 2015 by fixing a compiler warning, which indicated that a check which should have been since ever never applied. So, that it worked before was just as well a bug… long story short I guess we can make that a warning.

Why an error/warning? Having a different view on what packages are available depending on if you are root or not is a cause for confusion by users and tools alike as you confirm the non-root view, but the root view is applied, which might include additional packages, different versions or even (additional) unauthenticated packages you haven't approved… (but the tools think you have). Similar things happen for non-root preferences/configs and are hence discouraged.

For netrc/auth.conf documentation we have e.g. Debian bug #811181 tracking it. It is just that nobody has written documentation yet. I assume it is waiting for someone who actually wants that feature to write a few sentences about it.