Re: [gentoo-dev] Re: [RFC] PROPERTIES=virtual for meta-packages (clarification of definition)

[Ciaran McCreesh <ciaran.mccreesh@googlemail.com>]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 1391 bytes --]

On Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:40:37 +0100
Steve Long <slong@rathaus.eclipse.co.uk> wrote:
> >> * should be treated as being very quickly installable
> >> * should be treated as having zero cost for installs
> >>
> Both of which follow from "installs nothing." Or would you disagree?

No, they're separate properties, with different implications.

Consider, for example, a split baselayout-style package. There could be
a skeleton-filesystem-layout package that does all its work in pkg_*
functions (to avoid permission and empty directory problems that come
from installing directories via the normal methods). It would install
nothing, but should not be considered for either zero-cost property.

Or, for the reverse: a package that merely installs a simple control
file that enables functionality in another package may well be best
considered as zero-cost for package selection. If a package depends
upon || ( big-scary/processing-package simple-little/plugin-for-foo )
and you already have foo but not plugin-for-foo installed, the right
thing for the resolver to do would be to suggest plugin-for-foo.

As for the quickly installable property, plugin-for-foo might not
possess it -- for example, vim plugins generally do a vim tag
regeneration upon pkg_postinst, so they're not 'quick' to install even
if all they do is provide one text file.

-- 
Ciaran McCreesh

[-- Attachment #2: signature.asc --]
[-- Type: application/pgp-signature, Size: 197 bytes --]