Indeed, a default install of karmic->autofs has
DISABLE_DIRECT=1
in /etc/default/autofs
This is also documented in /usr/share/doc/autofs/README.direct
A workaround might be to use autofs5.
According to the original poster the behaviour changed at some point in time. The reason remains unclear to me after having looked at the last 4 package versions.
Indeed, a default install of karmic->autofs has DIRECT= 1 doc/autofs/ README. direct
DISABLE_
in /etc/default/autofs
This is also documented in /usr/share/
A workaround might be to use autofs5.
According to the original poster the behaviour changed at some point in time. The reason remains unclear to me after having looked at the last 4 package versions.
This bug should be closed as invalid.