Re: [gentoo-dev] EAPI feature suggestion: OBSOLETES (was: gentoo-x86 commit in profiles/updates: 4Q-2007)

[Jeroen Roovers <jer@gentoo.org>]

On Tue, 6 Nov 2007 16:23:35 -0500
Jim Ramsay <lack@gentoo.org> wrote:

> Whether or not 'move' was the correct action in the recent compiz
> example, perhaps we need to consider that some times one package does
> actually make another obsolete. The correct thing for the PM to
> do is to first uninstall the obsolete package, then install the new
> one.

>snip<

I don't see anything in your suggestion that requires an EAPI bump to
implement this. If the only thing you add to your ebuilds is the
OBSOLETES variable, then a PM which doesn't recognise the enhancement
will simply ignore it. In other words, OBSOLETE would not obsolete
the proper negative DEPENDs (blockers) that are currently used.

If you want to, say, make switching sysloggers easier by
offering to uninstall metalog when the admin asks to emerge syslog-ng,
then an EAPI bump would be warranted (and the proposal should be
thought through a lot more thoroughly, because as of now, emerging
one package and unmerging another are strictly separate actions and
that should perhaps never change).


Kind regards,
     JeR
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