Bug#4454: Distribution: unstable' but it goes into project/experimental

[Ian Jackson <ijackson@chiark.greenend.org.uk>]

Guy Maor writes ("Re: Bug#4454: `Distribution: unstable' but it goes into project/experimental"):
...
> The override files instructed dinstall to put debiandoc-sgml into
> experimental, overriding what was in the .changes file.

Ergh.

> This problem will recur whenever a package moves from one section or
> distribution to another.  dinstall cannot handle this case because it
> doesn't know where to look for the older version to unlink it.

Couldn't it look in the override file ?

> Instead it assumes that the .changes file listed incorrect sections and
> distributions (a fairly frequent occurrence actually), and installs the
> package into the old location.  Since package movements are much more
> rare than .changes files with incorrect locations, dinstall's assumption
> is the right one.

I think that we should try to make .changes files right.  I think the
new source format will help here.  (dchanges made it very easy to say
`Distribution: unstable' without thinking.)

> dinstall could, alternatively, require human intervention in this case.
> But it was written to run as automatically as possible.  It will make a
> recoverable error, which is usually the right thing to do, rather than
> do nothing at all.

Thanks.

> A third alternative is to turn the `Override file lists section as
> ... overriding your choice of ...' message into an error, so the package
> would get rejected.  But this is illogical as it would require MORE
> intervention: maintainers would be forced to reupload new .changes
> files and the distribution maintainer would still have to edit the
> override file.
> 
> So I would like to close this bug, as it's not a bug.  Of couse, you
> may be able to suggest a fourth alternative which is better.

Could you report the bad Distribution as a bug, if it turns out to be
true ?

Ian.