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Re: RFS: figtoipe / difficulties with Replaces:



Hi,

0======================================================================0
Info for debian-devel: we try to figure out how to package figtoipe.
Before version 6.0pre30-1, a version of figtoipe was included in the ipe
package. Since then, figtoipe is a separate upstream package and also
gone from the ipe .deb. A new version of figtoipe, which is improved and
has fewer bugs than the one coming with older ipe versions, exists and
shall be packaged for debian in a way that it can be installed together
with any ipe version.
0======================================================================0

> > So what do you think about section 7.5 in the policy manual? As I said,
> > to me it is confusing. It does not explicitly say that Replaces: must
> > come together with Conflicts:, it sounds more like there are different
> > meanings if it is alone (replace only some files) or with Conflicts:
> > (replace whole package).
> 
> I am not sure  either. As you noted, the policy does  not say to not use
> it alone,  but this just seems odd  to me. Let's hope  that someone else
> will enlighten us on this matter.

I made a little experiment. I created two packages "twoprog" version
0.1-1, containing progone and progtwo, and "oneprog" version 0.1-1 which
contains only an "improved version" of oneprog. In oneprog's
debian/control, I put

  Replaces: twoprog (<= 0.1-1)

I first installed twoprog 0.1-1, then oneprog 0.1-1, and the
installation of oneprog gives a message

  Replacing files in old package twoprog.

which is fine. After installing oneprog, the progone script is no longer
listed with dpkg -L, as expected from the policy description. So far so
good.

But when I then remove oneprog, twoprog does not get back its own
version of progone, the file is still gone. I think this is bad, because
the twoprog package lost some of its content by installing and removing
a different package, oneprog (dpkg version 1.14.18).

Also when I install version 0.2-1 of twoprog (which does no longer come
with its own progone), there is no error. But an error occurs when I
then try to downgrade towprog back to version 0.1-1 because the package
would overwrite progone from the oneprog package.

In summary: it's a mess because dpkg does not remember which files were
replaced and what the original versions had been. On the other hand, I
do not see easily how the logic should be.

So, what should we do?

Best wishes,

Alexander



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