Debconf (software package)

Debconf is a software tool for system-wide configuration under Unix -like operating systems. It was developed for the Debian Linux distribution and is closely related to the Debian package management dpkg.

If a package is installed, debconf asks the user settings which define the contents of the package associated with the system-wide configuration files. After installation, it is possible to change the configuration of the package by the dpkg -reconfigure program is running ( or another program such as Synaptic).

The design of debconf allows you to add front -ends to answer configuration questions in modular form. There are several such front -ends, such as dialogue, a readline for GNU, one on the use of text editors, a Python front-end API and front -ends for KDE and GNOME.

The original implementation of debconf was programmed in Perl. During the development of the Debian installer a new implementation in C was written called cdebconf. This is currently used only by the installer, but the long term is to replace completely the original. Both implementations use the same protocol for communication between the debconf front-end and the client code (" confmodule "); It is similar to the well-known Internet protocols is a simple line-based protocol.