Clarify mandatory config files in /etc

[debian/debian-policy.git] / policy.sgml

diff --git a/policy.sgml b/policy.sgml
index 1ad9699bf85362d57bb259de148ceef02e94f75a..ae7149ff130ac8c9b8bc39ccbe62db152ed9a82f 100644 (file)
--- a/policy.sgml
+++ b/policy.sgml
@@ -6388,12 +6388,13 @@ Reloading <var>description</var> configuration...done.
          via cron, it should place a file with the name of the
          package in one or more of the following directories:
          <example compact="compact">
+/etc/cron.hourly
 /etc/cron.daily
 /etc/cron.weekly
 /etc/cron.monthly
          </example>
          As these directory names imply, the files within them are
-         executed on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis,
+         executed on an hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly basis,
          respectively. The exact times are listed in
          <file>/etc/crontab</file>.</p>
 
@@ -6401,13 +6402,12 @@ Reloading <var>description</var> configuration...done.
          All files installed in any of these directories must be
          scripts (e.g., shell scripts or Perl scripts) so that they
          can easily be modified by the local system administrator.
-         In addition, they should be treated as configuration
-         files.
+         In addition, they must be treated as configuration files.
        </p>
 
        <p>
-         If a certain job has to be executed more frequently than
-         daily, the package should install a file
+         If a certain job has to be executed at some other frequency or
+         at a specific time, the package should install a file
          <file>/etc/cron.d/<var>package</var></file>. This file uses the
          same syntax as <file>/etc/crontab</file> and is processed by
          <prgn>cron</prgn> automatically. The file must also be
@@ -7206,10 +7206,13 @@ ln -fs ../sbin/sendmail debian/tmp/usr/bin/runq
          </p>
 
          <p>
-           Note that a script that embeds configuration information
-           (such as most of the files in <file>/etc/default</file> and
-           <file>/etc/cron.{daily,weekly,monthly}</file>) is de-facto a
-           configuration file and should be treated as such.
+           As noted elsewhere, <file>/etc/init.d</file> scripts,
+           <file>/etc/default</file> files, scripts installed in
+           <file>/etc/cron.{hourly,daily,weekly,monthly}</file>, and cron
+           configuration installed in <file>/etc/cron.d</file> must be
+           treated as configuration files.  In general, any script that
+           embeds configuration information is de-facto a configuration
+           file and should be treated as such.
          </p>
        </sect1>