Debian not having fixed their way forward with add torrc.d configuration directory is a major complication.
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=866187
Will %include /etc/torrc.d/ go into /usr/share/tor/tor-service-defaults-torrc or /etc/tor/torrc? This is unanswered.
If we modify Whonix’s /etc/tor/torrc, users who upgrade will get an interactive dpkg conflict resolution dialog and will be confused, bridges users most likely breaking their connectivity if they install the new config file.
Since Upgrading Whonix 13 to Whonix 14 recommend apt-get-noninteractive dist-upgrade, the new /etc/tor/torrc by Whonix would overwrite bridges or otherwise user modified /etc/tor/torrc.
That is why /etc/tor/torrc hasn’t been modified in years.
Should upstream decide to go with /usr/share/tor/tor-service-defaults-torrc we would have to rewind our change and go through all of this again.
On other other hand if we add %include /etc/torrc.d/ to /usr/share/tor/tor-service-defaults-torrc and upstream later decides to go with /etc/tor/torrc we are parsing the config files in a different order, which could also lead to confusion.