[Bug 794727] Re: Please symlink /var/log/messages to syslog

[Robie Basak]

It looks like this bug has a few duplicates and other implications, such
as to logwatch in bug 1010625. So I think the original bug should
remain, since most comments here pertain to that, and it is useful to
keep this bug to help track anything else that has been affected by this
change.

I have created bug 1181264 to track the symlink wishlist item.

Note that I'm tentatively marking this Won't Fix for the same reason as
Phillip's justification. Those annoyed by this should note that it isn't
always clear that a decision to make a change will turn out to be
controversial or cause disruption. This appears to be the case here.
It's reasonable to make changes that aren't expected to have wider
consequences or controversy as otherwise we'd get nothing done. But now
that you've presented the controversy, the Ubuntu Code of Conduct
clearly requires us to seek consensus.

Seeking consensus on this bug is clearly not going to be productive, as
there will be obvious consensus amongst those affected by this bug (and
therefore those who find the bug), and those with other use cases will
be left out completely, since they won't know about the bug. So if you'd
like to see this changed, then please seek consensus for a fix on the
appropriate mailing lists.

I also don't see anything in the Ubuntu delta regarding this. Has this
change actually been made in Debian or upstream? If so, the appropriate
venue to discuss this issue may also be upstream.

** Summary changed:

- Please symlink /var/log/messages to syslog
+ /var/log/messages is empty after upgrade to natty

** Changed in: rsyslog (Ubuntu)
   Importance: Wishlist => Medium

** Changed in: rsyslog (Ubuntu)
       Status: Triaged => Won't Fix

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/794727

Title:
  /var/log/messages is empty after upgrade to natty

Status in “rsyslog” package in Ubuntu:
  Won't Fix

Bug description:
  Binary package hint: rsyslog

  After upgrading my laptop from Ubuntu 10.10 to Ubuntu 11.04 I found out that the file /var/log/messages contains nothing and is 0 bytes long. /var/log/messages.1 contains the last messages before the upgrade.
  Fearing that something went wrong I checked, if the disk is full and if the syslog daemon running. All looked fine, so googled and found this thread http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=10674332 and reading the rsyslog changelog (https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/rsyslog/4.6.4-2ubuntu4) I found out, it is I intentionally change. I strongly oppose this change. /var/log/messages is a long established logfile and available on most unix systems. I can't really buy the performance argument. If the system is logging something it is awake anyway,because it still has to write to /var/log/syslog. If the system is idle it does not log. So I don't see much overhead in logging to two files. Moreover in contrast to the catch-all /var/log/syslog files, which containes a lot of useless information (failed authentications, etc..) it is much easier to spot a real problem in the extract, which /var/log/messages provides.

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