Good morning everyone!

> Ken Dibble wrote:
> > >> It is not an error for the script to "choose" not to start dnsmasq.
>
> To whom are you attributing that quotation? I did not say it. Yet
> you quote it in reply which others might then assume that I said it
> when I did not. At no point in this thread has that sentence
> appeared.
>
> > I don't know what kind of bizzarro world you live in.
>
> So first you cite as if I had said something that I never said and
> then you accuse me of living in a bizzarro world? Apparently I am
> living in reality. I have stated only the facts.
>
> > If a program is called for a specific purpose and it "chooses" not to do
> > what it was requested to do,
> >
> > reports no problems, doesn't do that job, and cannot even be bothered to
> > report that it did not do what it
> >
> > was requested to do, it is broken.
>
> If you want the program to do its job then you must have the program
> installed.
>
> Installing and then removing a program and then complaining that the
> uninstalled program is not doing something after having uninstalled it
> is just silly.
>
> > Computer programs are supposed to report that they succeeded or failed at
> > the requested action, they don't make people guess and they don't get to
> > pick alternative actions. They are not supposed to report the requested
> > action had no error if they didn't do the job. Anybody who thinks otherwise
> > is wrong.
>
> Said programs must be installed to function as intended.
>
> > > > What error occurred? As far as I can see no error has occurred.
> >
> > The program failed to perform the requested action. That is an error.
>
> Said program must be installed to function as intended.
>
> > I will speak no more on the subject.
> >
> > I am retreating to someplace where people make sense.
>
> This is the last I speak on it as well. Good luck!

I encountered this error on "Devuan Daedalus" servers when updating "dnsmasq".
This is an update error, not an installation error.
For me the error only occurs with "Devuan Daedalus", older versions like
"Chimaera" or "Beowulf" are not affected.
"Dnsmasq-2.90.4" comes with a new start script, which does not replace
the old one during the update.
The solution is: delete the old start script and rename the new start script
"dnsmasq.dist" (under /etc/init.d) to "dnsmasq".
Or uninstall and install "dnsmasq", but this is reminiscent of a system at Redmond :-(


Greetings from Germany!
Jürgen Möbius