Re: Debian packaging

Bram Moolenaar <[email protected]>
Newsgroups gmane.comp.tools.aap.devel
Message-ID <[email protected]>
Wichert Akkerman wrote:

> Previously Bram Moolenaar wrote:
> > Unfortunately, there don't appear to be more than a few package system
> > that support this method of deleting the old package only after trying
> > out the new package for a while.
> 
> It is a policy choice. For dpkg it was a deliberate choice to not
> support that and we still stick with that decision. I strongly feel it
> that it makes dpkg simpler and more robust.

I have had several occasions where I discovered a package didn't work
properly while installing it (mostly because dependencies could not be
solved) or just after installing it.  Then trying to put the just
uninstalled package back into place is a pain.

Another problem is dependencies: When upgrading a package to a new
version it's possible that other packages depend on the old version
(e.g., for the qt library).  You can only delete the older package after
all packages that depend on it have been upgraded.  And you don't want
to have the avelanche effect of upgrading lots of packages while you
need only one.

The Debian package system is very good.  It's a pity that it misses this
essential feature.

-- 
hundred-and-one symptoms of being an internet addict:
165. You have a web page burned into your glasses

 /// Bram Moolenaar -- [email protected] -- http://www.Moolenaar.net   \\\
///          Creator of Vim - Vi IMproved -- http://www.Vim.org          \\\
\\\              Project leader for A-A-P -- http://www.A-A-P.org        ///
 \\\  Help AIDS victims, buy here: http://ICCF-Holland.org/click1.html  ///


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