Subject: Replaces: and virtual packages?

From: Yves Arrouye <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 01:56:08 +0200

Hello,

I thought having a package with

        Provides: compress
        Replaces: compress

would be like

        Provides: compress
        Conflicts: compress

except that the conflict will not appear and I hoped that when the package
was installed any previous package providing compress would be removed
first.

Obviously it does not work. Is this because of virtual packages, or did
I not understand Replaces:?

Yves.

--

---

From: Dale Scheetz <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 10:18:26 -0400 (EDT)

> I not understand Replaces:?
As I understand it, from talking with Ian, Provides/Conflicts is to be
used when you wish your package to be the only one providing the given
feature. I think that Provides/Replaces is not that strict in it's
implimentation. That is, it will allow other packages to be in the system
with this feature.

Luck,

Dwarf

------------                                          --------------

aka   Dale Scheetz                   Phone:   1 (904) 877-0257
      Flexible Software              Fax:     NONE 
      Black Creek Critters           e-mail:  [email-masked]

------------ If you don't see what you want, just ask --------------

---

From: Guy Maor <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 11:15:02 -0500 (CDT)

> was installed any previous package providing compress would be removed

No, that's not true.  You need both conflicts and replaces to get the
old package uninstalled.

> I not understand Replaces:?

The later I think.  A replaces B means package A replaces files from
package B.  replaces and conflicts together is a special case - the
package will be uninstalled automatically.  That's useful for package
renaming or for obsolete packages that are folded into another
package.  For example, fileutils conflicts and replaces with color-ls.

Guy

---

From: Ian Jackson <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 9 Aug 96 23:27 BST

> was installed any previous package providing compress would be removed

I think you want:
 Conflicts: compress
 Replaces: compress
 Provides: compress

Ian.