On Mon, 24 Mar 2003 08:35:17 -0600
Jamin Collins <jcollins@asgardsrealm.net> wrote:
> > My beef is that we already have a place for version numbers.
> This is not just about version numbers, it's about handling major
> differences between two releases, regardless of the change in version
> numbers.
Which is, oddly enough, part of the reason we have version numbers.
> > But wait, isn't one of the points of the packaging system to remove
> > the need to know exactly which version of this package and that
> > package to install? I sure thought it was.
> And how does the packaging system deal with breakage between versions?
> TMK, it doesn't.
No. But clearly it is a common enough occurance that it /should/. I have
said that a few times now.
> If you don't like the suggestion, suggest something else. So far, I
> haven't seen a suggestion on how to handle it other than to do nothing.
A possibility would be to have the epoc denote different packages. Not
have the packaging system update from one epoc to the next and actively list
different epocs in the package list. I mean, just off the top of my head. Of
course that shuffles the hack somewhere else but at least then it is in the
right place; the version number. A solid solution would be to have another
field to differentiate between incompatible versions separate of the name and
epoc:version.
> It's not my *pet* package. I could care less whether exim v4 is in
> Debian in a month or year or more.
You could care less which means you have some caring? I don't think that
is what you meant to say.
> My problem is with the reasons stated for it not being available. They
> simply don't hold up. There are ways for it to be made available without
> causing harm to v3 installations.
Which do harm to the entire packaging system in the eyes of some.
> > It is already a mess. We don't need more of the same.
> Could have fooled me, seems to be working pretty well.
Says the man who has been using Debian for years and not the newbie who's
trying to figure out where gimp is.
{grey@teleute:~} apt-cache show gimp
Or where the latest kde is....
{grey@teleute:~} apt-cache show kde
Package: kde
Priority: optional
Section: x11
Installed-Size: 48
Maintainer: Debian QA Group <packages@qa.debian.org>
Architecture: all
Source: meta-kde
Version: 4:2.2.25
Oh, right, it's gimp1.2 and gimp1.3 and kde3.1.0, no wait, kde3.1.1, d'oh!
That's sensible to you?
--
Steve C. Lamb | I'm your priest, I'm your shrink, I'm your
PGP Key: 8B6E99C5 | main connection to the switchboard of souls.
| -- Lenny Nero - Strange Days
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