[Zope] WARNING: Packing is dangerous!!! (zope <= 2.6.1)

[Paul Winkler]

Sorry for the caps in the subject, but it seems this bug is not nearly
well publicized enough.*  People keep stumbling onto this bug 
on their own and writing to the list about it.

In Zope 2.6.1, 2.6.0, and probably 2.5.x at least:
Packing a FileStorage (Data.fs) can lead to some loss of data.
http://collector.zope.org/Zope/875

In addition, the "fsrecover.py" script that ships with Zope 2.6.1 is
broken - it (often? always?) produces a nearly-empty Data.fs.
If you need it, use fsrecover.py from CVS or from Zope 2.6.0.

Considering how much of the existing documentation recommends 
frequent packing to maintain a healthy Data.fs, I think it would
be advisable for Zope corp. to take steps to alert users to this
very serious problem. Irrecoverable data loss is the kind of thing
that ruins software reputation. Maybe a news item on zope.org?

In addition, I think it's a critical enough problem that when
a solution is found, there should be published hotfixes for 
2.6.1 and 2.6.0 at least.

-- 

Paul Winkler
home:  http://www.slinkp.com
"Muppet Labs, where the future is made - today!"