Re: Bug#508644: mass bugfiling (against 8 packages) and/or new package default-mta
On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 11:51:39PM -0800, Steve Langasek wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 03:42:39PM +0100, Holger Levsen wrote:
> > But as this would hardcode exim4 as the default MTA for Debian in a number
> > of packages, some better solutions have been proposed in
> > http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2008/05/msg00381.html with the best
> > choice appearantly being <87ve1faria.fsf@frosties.localdomain> which
> > proposes that exim4 should provide default-mta, packages needing an MTA
> > should depend on default-mta | mail-transfer-agent and the other MTAs should
> > provide mail-transfer-agent. Then, if we want to change the default, we just
> > need to touch two packages.
The referred post mentions an actual package rather than just a "provides:"
field. It makes a difference.
>
> Given that m-t-a is mentioned explicitly in policy, and that "default-mta"
> will be a virtual package,
Assume that in squeeze, the default changes to exim5. With an actual
pseudopackage, someone having both lenny and squeeze (or unstable) in apt's
sources will have default-mta either from lenny (->exim4) or from squeeze
(->exim5).
With mere "provides:" (a virtual package), you'd have a version of both
exim4 and exim5 that provides default-mta.
Rawr?!?
--
1KB // Microsoft corollary to Hanlon's razor:
// Never attribute to stupidity what can be
// adequately explained by malice.
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