[wp-hackers] Lost categories upgrading to 2.5.1

[Elliotte Harold]

Alexander Beutl wrote:
>> I think it is more feasible to accept that misconfiguration will
>> result in unwanted behaviour.
> 
> Agree - everyone is asked to backup before upgrading, so nothing can be lost
> in this process.

We perform backups because code and hardware is broken. Backups are a 
countermeasure against badly written software. That doesn't meant the 
software is not at fault for losing data.

> The thing is: Normally you have the privileges to do whatever your like at
> your database 

False. Normally you don't. Most DBs strictly limit the privileges 
available to users for security reasons.

> and the ones who changed this (maybe for security reasons)
> should know and be easily able reedit privileges whenever upgrading. Why
> your host does such nasty stuff like taking away create privileges in

They never took them away. In fact, WordPress never had these privileges 
in the first place. Like Wordpress itself, you're assuming things about 
my installation that simply aren't true and have never been true. It is 
precisely the unpredictability of configuration in the real world that 
requires extensive error checking for reliable code. Given Wordpress's 
many users, there is simply no way to predict everyone's configuration. 
Anything Wordpress depends on, it needs to check for, not simply assume.

-- 
Elliotte Rusty Harold  elharo at metalab.unc.edu
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