Re: Debian-Alpha port ideas...please read (long)
In article <[🔎] 19971030202425.44839@dallas.ucd.ie>,
Nikita Schmidt <cetus@snowball.ucd.ie> wrote:
[about to `g' or not to `'g'
>We must consider the following.
>
>1. Aesthetical reasons:
> - it may be nice to keep the package naming on Alpha as close as
> possible to other platforms (I believe it is pure aesthetics);
> - from the other hand, "g" looks ugly;
> - with "Provides:", for each "g" package there will be one ghost
> package sitting in the packages database until the transition is
> over.
>
>2. "Provides:" is obviously a temporary measure which should go away as
>soon as all dependencies are correct. Our grandchildren will eventually
>clean up the corresponding mess in debian/rules, if we happen to be firm
>enough to insist and they do not forget. Renaming packages is kind of a
>"permanent damage" to debian/rules, which, however, doesn't impose any
>obligations on our grandchildren.
>
>Any other thoughts?
When I created the first Debian/Alpha dist, I had very much the same
problem as lots of packages depended on libc5 (still hardcoded then) and
the Alpha used libc6. What I did then was to create "dummy" packages
that depended upon the real package. You can do this now again, and even
better as we now have Pre-Depends which makes it easier.
For example:
dummy libreadline package:
Package: libreadline
Pre-Depends: libreadlineg
This will ensure that if you upgrade from the old readline to the new dummy
package, the `g' version is installed first so that everything still
works.
After all other packages have been fixed to Depend: on the new libreadlineg,
the dummy package can be removed without any problems since nothing depends
on it anymore.
AFAICS, this will ensure a smooth transition.
Mike.
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