Re: Bug#42634: PROPOSAL] Automatic migration to /usr/share/doc

[Jason Gunthorpe <jgg@ualberta.ca>]

On Thu, 19 Aug 1999, Anthony Towns wrote:

> > * Base-files should be changed.
> 
>   * Base-files must require that the fixed dpkg is installed.
> 
> If base-files doesn't depend/pre-depend on dpkg, downgrading dpkg and
> downgrading any other deb that uses /usr/share/doc will lose all its
> documentation.

That is not enough, you must do one of:
  1) all packages pre-depend on base-files, base-files depends on fixed
     dpkg
  2) all packages pre-depend on dpkg [policy actualy frowns on implict
     dependencies, but in this case it is a technical requirement]
  3) force everyone to use APT (which correctly orders unpacking of 
     implicit dependencies and essential packages to make this case
     workable)
  4) Explicit upgrade instructions about upgrading dpkg first
and in addition:
  + Somehow force dpkg to exit it's current run directly after it is
    upgraded - which is currently impossible. Otherwise recursive dpkg
    will think that the depends is met but in truth it isn't because dpkg
    is still running with the old version, oops.

Effectively, since dpkg had a bug in the past, fixing it now simply isn't
going to do any good. 

Jason