Re: What do you wish for in an package manager?

[Mark Seaborn <mrs35@cam.ac.uk>]

"Dwayne C . Litzenberger" <dlitz@dlitz.net> writes:

> So my question is: What do you wish for in a package manager?

I want a system where I can install multiple versions of a library (or
any package really) and say which version I want each program on the
system to use, possibly on a per-user basis.  The present system is a
disaster waiting to happen:  If I install a package from unstable, it
often wants to replace my version of libc from stable with one from
unstable.  If this new libc is broken it could bring down the whole
system, when what I really want to happen is for the new package to
use the unstable libc and everything else carry on using the stable
libc.

I want the package system to behave more like a module system for a
programming language, particularly a parametric module system such as
PLT units.  I've put a few e-mails on this topic at
<http://members.xoom.com/mseaborn/comp/units/>, if you want to have a
look.

-- 
         Mark Seaborn
   - mseaborn@bigfoot.com - http://members.xoom.com/mseaborn/ -

      ``Jersey's Crime Prevention Team are out and about,
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