On Mon, Nov 07, 2005 at 09:35:38PM -0600, Manoj Srivastava wrote: > A new version of kernel-package is imminent, it is undergoing > boot camp out in experimental. For the impatient, this release brings > the log awaited debconf usage for kernel image packages -- and the > raison d'etre of this mail. Below are the new features of the > upcoming kernel-package -- but first, since the kernel image package > asks questions in the preinst, and uses debconf now, is it OK for > kernel image packages to pre-depend on debconf? Or should I resurrect > the old preinst code and laternately ask questions manually? Well, of course the concern with pre-depends is that careless pre-dependencies can lead to unbreakable loops. Although it's the custom for userspace packages to not depend (or pre-depend) on kernel image packages directly, in order to allow users to roll their own unpackaged kernels, there are certainly occasions when userspace software has a de facto pre-dependency on a particular kernel version. So we'll have to be careful not to let the kernel images (indirectly) pre-depend on anything that would leave us without an upgrade path from sarge, but I don't think pre-depends vs. depends even matter here given that you can't reboot to a Debian kernel image before the package has been successfully configured. Anyway, the dependency tree for debconf looks something like this in sarge (Essential packages trimmed): debconf |_ debconf-i18n |_ liblocale-gettext-perl | |_ perlapi-5.8.0 |_ libtext-iconv-perl | |_ perlapi-5.8.3 |_ libtext-wrapi18n-perl |_ libtext-charwidth-perl There are more packages involved if we consider the various debconf frontends, but the above is sufficient, on the debconf side, to let a kernel-image package install whether it depends or pre-depends on debconf. So I would say that such a pre-dependency is safe, unless anyone else sees a problem? -- Steve Langasek Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS Debian Developer to set it on, and I can move the world. vorlon@debian.org http://www.debian.org/
Attachment:
signature.asc
Description: Digital signature