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appropriate use of /etc/alternatives



I intend to package the xplot utility from xplot.org.  This tool is
useful with the tcptrace package, which I maintain.  However, there's
already an xplot package that installs /usr/bin/xplot.  It's not
compatible with xplot.org, but does essentially the same thing (plots
data in X).

I suggested to the xplot maintainer, Peter Galbraith, that we use
/etc/alternatives to manage a /usr/bin/xplot symlink.  He doesn't think
that it's an appropriate use of alternatives, since the tools are not
compatible.  Do others agree?  On what level do tools need to be
compatible in order to go into alternatives?  I'm sure there are a
number of examples of alternatives that are incompatible on at least
some level (think nvi and vim config files, for example), but they do
essentially the same thing.

noah

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