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Re: Bug#508644: mass bugfiling (against 8 packages) and/or new package default-mta



On Fri, Feb 27, 2009 at 10:37:19AM +0100, Adam Borowski wrote:
> 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.

No, not the Message-Id that Holger referenced.

http://lists.debian.org/msgid-search/87ve1faria.fsf@frosties.localdomain

> It makes a difference.

Yes, it does; and that thread identified what the differences are that
should cause us to prefer a virtual package instead of a real one.

  http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2008/05/msg00390.html

> 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.

And what problem do you believe the latter will cause, in practice?

-- 
Steve Langasek                   Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS
Debian Developer                   to set it on, and I can move the world.
Ubuntu Developer                                    http://www.debian.org/
slangasek@ubuntu.com                                     vorlon@debian.org


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