Re: New virtual package names.
On Fri, 9 Aug 1996, Ian Jackson wrote:
> Dale Scheetz writes ("Re: New virtual package names. "):
> ...
> > On another note, is there an editor virtual package? Is there any interest
> > in adding one? It could be valuable to add Provides: editor to ae (and
> > others as well).
>
> Sorry I'm coming into this so late (just over a week, in fact), but I
> think this is a daft idea.
>
> Noone is going to deinstall all the editors on their system and not
> notice what they've done wrong and how to fix it - this is not the
> kind of `mistake' our dependency scheme should try to address.
It was my understanding that this was EXACTLY what dependancies were
designed for; Protecting the installer from removing functionality that
other packages need.
>
> The only possible consequences of creating an `editor' virtual package
> and having things depend on it are:
> * Needless updates to packages to add dependencies and Provides
This is not a technical argument. It is an economic one, and should not be
listed as a primary point. (all change takes work) Your assertion that it
is needless is not yet backed up by technical arguments. In addition, the
modification of other editor packages to encorporate this new VPN are not
on any critical path, so they can happen as need arrises.
> * Some person installs their own favourite editor in /usr/local
> and wants to remove all ours but can't.
This is true for any package that has others that depend on it. If I want
to put a qmail of my own into /usr/local, I will still need to keep some
Debian mail-delivery-agent installed to satisfy other packages dependance
on an MDA. A way to tell dpkg about "non-package provides" would fix this
problem in general, but I don't necessarily think that it is needed, or
even desirable.
>
> I think the `editor' virtual package should be scrapped.
>
I personaly have no problem with this, as long as you can show a more
specific reason for doing so. So far I haven't seen an argument that is
"to the point".
Later,
Dwarf
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Black Creek Critters e-mail: dwarf@polaris.net
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