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I'd like to compare the actual config files for, say, Apache and the ones provided in the original package.

The purpose is to have a list of modifications since initial installation because I didn't document them originally.

I've cruised along dpkg man pages with no success.

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a similar question was answered on U&L – Tshepang Jul 28 '11 at 12:41
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dpkg does not store the original copies of the config files separately, but you could download the .deb file and extract it to a temporary area with dpkg-deb, for example

$ dpkg-deb -x filename.deb /tmp

then compare the original versions in the unpacked tree under /tmp with the versions installed on the system, perhaps using a tool like diff.

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thxs I'll give it a try By the way, is there a way to do this with aptitude instead of the .deb package? – Olivier Jul 27 '11 at 14:01
@Olivier: you can use aptitude download <packagename> to download the .deb file into the current directory automatically. You still need to unpack it though. – OrbWeaver Jul 28 '11 at 14:49
yes I had this idea too but nothing automatic I'm afraid Thxs anyway – Olivier Jul 30 '11 at 13:06
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