[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Bug#901193: Bug#901003: There is no standard way of removing transitional / dummy packages



On Wed, Mar 27, 2019 at 02:23:41PM +0000, Justin B Rye wrote:
> diff --git a/en/upgrading.dbk b/en/upgrading.dbk
> index a22924f3..37fa449d 100644
> --- a/en/upgrading.dbk
> +++ b/en/upgrading.dbk
> @@ -1311,24 +1311,25 @@ $ aptitude purge '~c'
>    </para>
>  
>    <section id="dummy">
> -    <title>Dummy packages</title>
> -    <para>
> -      Some packages from &oldreleasename; have been split into several packages in &releasename;, often
> -      to improve system maintainability.  To ease the upgrade path in such cases,
> -      &releasename; often provides <quote>dummy</quote> packages: empty packages that have the same name as
> -      the old package in &oldreleasename; with dependencies that cause the new packages to be
> -      installed.  These <quote>dummy</quote> packages are considered redundant after the
> -      upgrade and can be safely removed.
> -    </para>
> -    <para>
> -      Most (but not all) dummy packages' descriptions indicate their purpose.
> -      Package descriptions for dummy packages are not uniform, however, so you might
> -      also find <command>deborphan</command> with the
> +    <title>Transitional dummy packages</title>
> +    <para>
> +      Some packages from &oldreleasename; may have been replaced in &releasename;
> +      by transitional dummy packages, which are empty placeholders designed to
> +      simplify upgrades. If for instance an application that was formerly a single
> +      package has been split into several, a transitional package may be provided
> +      with the same name as the old package and with appropriate dependencies to
> +      cause the new ones to be installed. After this has happened the redundant
> +      dummy package can be safely removed.
> +    </para>
> +    <para>
> +      The package descriptions for transitional dummy packages usually indicate their
> +      purpose. However, they are not uniform; in particular, some <quote>dummy</quote>
> +      packages are designed to be kept installed (e.g. to express a dependency on
> +      the current latest version of some program). You might also find
> +      <command>deborphan</command> with the
>        <literal>--guess-<replaceable>*</replaceable></literal> options (e.g.
> -      <literal>--guess-dummy</literal>) useful to detect them in your system.  Note
> -      that some dummy packages are not intended to be removed after an upgrade but
> -      are, instead, used to keep track of the current available version of a program
> -      over time.
> +      <literal>--guess-dummy</literal>) useful to detect transitional dummy packages
> +      on your system.
>      </para>
>    </section>
>  

I agree with everything you've said about this text but as regards
the patch I think some mention of tracking packages should be kept.
Something like:

  One class of dummy package that are not intended to be removed
  are <quote>tracking</quote> packages, which are used to keep
  track of the current available version of a program over time.
  A common case is <literal>linux-image-</literal>-&architecture;.

Kind Regards
Vince

Reply to: