[OpenWrt-Devel] opkg.conf as preserved config file in sysupgrade is creating problems (especially after package signing)

[Hannu Nyman]

/etc/opkg.conf has been declared a config file and is thus preserved in an 
sysupgrade.
https://dev.openwrt.org/browser/trunk/package/system/opkg/Makefile#L65

After the package list signing has been enabled, that is really hurting with 
upgrading: the old opkg.conf gets preseverd and points to the old version's 
repo. If user doesn't realise that and the build's signing key has changed, 
the user gets practically locked out of "opkg update", as package list 
signature check will fail.

Apparently 15.05-rc2 did not include luci (at least not all the platforms), 
so there are severeal forum discussions & bugs about "rc2 without luci  + 
unability to install luci". For example:
https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?pid=280016#p280016
https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=58016
https://dev.openwrt.org/ticket/19853

Earlier the problem has been more hidden, as e.g. Luci from rc1 does not 
differ that much from rc2, and installing the old version has not hurt. Now 
the signature check removes that possibility, especially when switching 
between release to snapshot builds, (or possibly between difeerent releases 
if different keys are used).

My proposal to developers is to remove the config file status from opkg.conf.
Then a new opkg.conf would be installed along a new firmware and it would 
point to the correct binary repo for the current firmware. That would improve 
the user experience of an average user, who doesn't really care about deeper 
system innards.

Overwriting the user's opkg.conf may hurt some users, but probably a small 
minority of experienced users, so I would

Other possibility could be divide opkg.conf into two: a build-specific 
default download repo list (to be overwritten in sysupgrade) and a 
user-specific config file with config options and possible additional 
download locations (to be preserved).

Any opinions?
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