fwcd / fwcd/dotpkg

Should we warn about (potentially) unlisted `hostSpecificFiles`?

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Dominant language
Python
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5
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Description

Host-specific files that are not listed in `hostSpecificFiles` will be installed on other hosts too, which often (but not always) is a programming error. Unfortunately, we cannot detect host-specific files automatically by their name alone (on any machine other than the host they are intended for), so we'd have to implement this as a form of "lint rule", that emits a warning whenever a dotfile is installed that...

- contains the current hostname
- is not listed under `hostSpecificFiles`

There may, however, be valid use cases for installing files as-is, especially if no further meaning is assigned to file names containing the hostname, in which case such a warning might become noisy. We could add a flag for suppressing it to the `dotpkg.json`, though the question remains as to whether the use case of host-specific files is compelling enough that all file names should be interpreted at all by default, even if only for a warning.

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Research direction

Start by locating the dotfile installation logic and the handling of `hostSpecificFiles`. Review how hostname-containing dotfiles are currently treated, then determine whether a warning and an opt-out belong in the package configuration. Done is not defined until the warning behavior and suppression policy are settled.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
cli
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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