Bug#193314: apt ignores the "Provides: "-tag while installing build-deps
On Mon, May 19, 2003 at 01:08:31AM +0200, Alexander Neumann wrote:
> Matt Zimmerman wrote:
> > libpng-dev is a pure virtual package; the usual method is to specify a
> > concrete alternative (e.g., libpng12-dev | libpng-dev). This will fix the
> > problem for fvwm.
>
> Ok, so this isn't a bug but a feature?
More or less. It keeps things much simpler and more consistent if a
particular package is always built with the same concrete package providing
a virtual package. It is easy to force this, while still allowing any
provider to satisfy the dependency, by using a boolean expression.
In the case of libpng-dev, it is somewhat arguable, because only one package
provides libpng-dev. However, it is entirely likely that eventually another
package will provide the same name, and fvwm does not specify a preference.
I don't know whether the root cause of this situation is a bug or not, but
it ceases to matter when this sanity-preserving method is followed. I'm
pretty sure this is documented somewhere, but at any rate it is a best
current practice.
--
- mdz
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