mysql bug in latest debian package

[greg.rundlett at gmail.com (Greg Rundlett)]

There is a simple, but major bug in the latest Debian package for
MySQL.  It  puts an incompatible line in the configuration file
(etc/mysql/my.cnf).  'old_passwords' is an unknown variable for mysql
4 apparently.  This is major because it prevents MySQL from running. 
All you have to do is comment the line.

> # For compatibility to other Debian packages that still use
> # libmysqlclient10 and libmysqlclient12.
> # old_passwords	= 1

I didn't find this out for a long time, because I just didn't think to
add the verbose switch when starting mysql.  Instead I was trying to
figure out why it wouldn't create the socket.

The maintainers are aware of it, and I posted a comment in the mysql docs too.

http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=321578
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/can-not-connect-to-server.html