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
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