Bug#275998: apt: [apt-get] please implement "install preference", like preferring apache2

[Jari Aalto <jari.aalto@poboxes.com>]

Package: apt
Version: 0.5.27
Severity: wishlist

INTRODUCTION

In recent bug thread (#275039) I was trying to install phpldapadmin, but
interrupted it because it wanted to install Apache 1.x and I preferred
Apache 2. I was almost abandoning the phpldapadmin, because I 
thought only apache 1.x was supported.

It later turned out that the phpldapadmin did also support Apache 2.x:

  Depends: apache | httpd, php4-ldap, php4 (>= 4.1.0) | php4-cgi (>= 4.1.0) | libapache2-mod-php4, debconf (>= 0.2.26)

However this was not obvious at "apt-get install" time which suggested
Apache 1.x

REQUEST

The developer's of phpldapadmin informed that apt-get does not have any
preference which would be installed if given lines like:

  apache2 | apache | httpd   

I think this should be improved somehow:

1)  Developer could set the preferred install choice. Perhaps indicated
    by the order of the "|"; given "A|B|C", the A would be primary
    install candicate.

2)  If user had set in /etc/apt/ap.conf variable

    APT::Preference-Question: ask

Then apt-get, faced with choices, would ask which A, B, C user
wants to install.

-- Package-specific info:

-- (no /etc/apt/preferences present) --


-- (/etc/apt/sources.list present, but not submitted) --


-- System Information:
Debian Release: 3.1
  APT prefers testing
  APT policy: (500, 'testing')
Architecture: i386 (i686)
Kernel: Linux 2.4.26-1-386
Locale: LANG=C, LC_CTYPE=C (ignored: LC_ALL set to en_US)

Versions of packages apt depends on:
ii  libc6                  2.3.2.ds1-16      GNU C Library: Shared libraries an
ii  libgcc1                1:3.4.1-4sarge1   GCC support library
ii  libstdc++5             1:3.3.4-6sarge1.2 The GNU Standard C++ Library v3

-- no debconf information