Ubuntu
exim4 package

apt-get purge exim4 doesn't delete Debian-exim4 account

Bug #731324 reported by Enrique on 2011-03-08

This bug affects 1 person

Affects		Status	Importance	Assigned to	Milestone
	exim4 (Ubuntu)	Confirmed	Low	Unassigned

Bug Description

Binary package hint: exim4

I was uninstalling the exim4 package using command:
apt-get purge exim4 exim4-base exim4-config exim4-daemon-light

I expected the Debian-exim account and group to be automatically deleted, but it is not the case. Apparently there is no error message.
I am using Ubuntu 10.04.2 LTS.

Revision history for this message

Andres Rodriguez (andreserl) wrote on 2011-03-08:

Hi there,

Thank you for reporting bugs and trying to make Ubuntu better.

I can confirm that in fact when purging the package the user is not removed, however this has been done for a reason which is explained in Debian bug #270681 ([1]), and as per changelog entry:

"Do not remove the Debian-exim user in "exim4-config.postrm purge".
    Package dependencies are only effective for packages in status installed,
    but it is clearly not sane to remove the user until all exim4-packages
    are purged. e.g. this can completely break logrotate (Closes: #270681)."

I, however, am leaving this bug report open as maybe a better fix for this can be achieved.

[1]: http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=270681