Re: cdebconf, and a versioned dependency on debconf
On Fri, 28 Nov 2008, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
> Now, as of version 3.005, ucf started using a feaure that has
> long been a part of cdebconf, but was only ported to debconf in version
> 1.5.19, so now ucf started depending on:
> debconf (>= 1.5.19) | cdebconf
> and this is where trouble beings.
>
> Suppose a machine running stable has cdebconf installed. It also
> has an old version of debconf installed, say, one that is older than
> 1.5.19. Since cdebconf was installed, the dependency requirements are
> fully satisfied, so debconf was not updated.
Wouldn't a Conflicts: debconf (< 1.5.19) work around the problem?
> Now, in any situation where we have two alternatives, and have a
> versioned dependency on one of them, but do not actually control which
> of the alternatives gets used (if, say, they are drop in replacements),
> there is going to be a potential problem.
When they don't conflict with each other? Yes, it is broken. In fact, it
is the kind of stuff lintian should warn about, because it IS going to bite
people hard, even if it doesn't happen everyday.
One could maybe fix this in the packaging system itself, to add implicit
conflicts on the complement version set for versioned Depends and
Recommends.
Anyway, unless the packaging system is updated to deal with it, it would be
a good idea for lintian to warn on every dependency tree where an
alternative is versioned, and the alternatives don't ALL conflict with each
other. Tricky, that one.
--
"One disk to rule them all, One disk to find them. One disk to bring
them all and in the darkness grind them. In the Land of Redmond
where the shadows lie." -- The Silicon Valley Tarot
Henrique Holschuh
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