--- Begin Message ---
Package: gcc-4.2
Version: 4.2.2-7
Severity: important
Instead of having /usr/bin/gcc link directly to gcc-4.2, it should
operate through the /etc/alternatives mechanism and be controlled by
update-alternatives(8). This criticism applies equally to all the
other versioned gcc packages, of course.
I'm not sure if this problem actually qualifies as an 'important bug',
but it's a nuisance and /etc/alternatives is clearly appropriate as
recommended in Appendix F of the Debian Policy Manual.
Norman
-- System Information:
Debian Release: lenny/sid
APT prefers unstable
APT policy: (500, 'unstable'), (500, 'testing'), (500, 'stable')
Architecture: i386 (i686)
Kernel: Linux 2.6.22-3-686 (SMP w/1 CPU core)
Locale: LANG=C, LC_CTYPE=C (charmap=ANSI_X3.4-1968)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash
Versions of packages gcc-4.2 depends on:
ii binutils 2.18.1~cvs20080103-1 The GNU assembler, linker and bina
ii cpp-4.2 4.2.2-7 The GNU C preprocessor
ii gcc-4.2-base 4.2.2-7 The GNU Compiler Collection (base
ii libc6 2.7-6 GNU C Library: Shared libraries
ii libgcc1 1:4.3-20080116-1 GCC support library
Versions of packages gcc-4.2 recommends:
ii libc6-dev 2.7-6 GNU C Library: Development Librari
-- no debconf information
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Norman Ramsey writes:
> Package: gcc-4.2
> Version: 4.2.2-7
> Severity: important
>
> Instead of having /usr/bin/gcc link directly to gcc-4.2, it should
> operate through the /etc/alternatives mechanism and be controlled by
> update-alternatives(8). This criticism applies equally to all the
> other versioned gcc packages, of course.
>
> I'm not sure if this problem actually qualifies as an 'important bug',
> but it's a nuisance and /etc/alternatives is clearly appropriate as
> recommended in Appendix F of the Debian Policy Manual.
No, it's not an alternative by intent. Depending on the version, GCC
has different ABI's for the compilers and the runtime libraries.
Therefore it is *not* an alternative, but you have to explicitely
depend on a specific version (or better to depend on the default
version).
Matthias
--- End Message ---