Re: [OT] Scripts, packages, etc.

Paul Jarc writes:
> To be fair, /etc/alternatives is only one part of Debian's package
> management system.  Other parts do detect when a dependency needs to
> be upgraded, AFAIK.

Those other parts don't allow multiple versions to be installed at the
same time. They don't allow undoing an upgrade without reinstalling the
previous version.

Every package has the same tension between

   * the need for filenames that depend on version number---so that
     multiple versions can be installed, files can be traced to their
     versions, etc.---and

   * the need for filenames that don't depend on version number---so
     that users and other packages can easily find the package's files
     without having to pay attention to versions.

With /package, the tension is resolved by a version symlink.

---D. J. Bernstein, Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics,
Statistics, and Computer Science, University of Illinois at Chicago