[arch-general] A suggestion for the devs regarding rebuilds

[fons at kokkinizita.net]

On Mon, Feb 08, 2010 at 04:38:46PM -0600, Aaron Griffin wrote:

> A package is not a single .so file, unless that is your proposal - to
> split all .so files into their own packages.
> 
> Here is a list of files that would conflict if this was done with libpng:
> libpng /usr/bin/libpng-config
> libpng /usr/bin/libpng12-config
> libpng /usr/bin/png2pnm
> libpng /usr/bin/pnm2png
> libpng /usr/include/libpng12/png.h
> libpng /usr/include/libpng12/pngconf.h
> libpng /usr/include/png.h
> libpng /usr/include/pngconf.h
> libpng /usr/lib/pkgconfig/libpng.pc
> libpng /usr/lib/pkgconfig/libpng12.pc
> libpng /usr/share/licenses/libpng/LICENSE
> libpng /usr/share/man/man3/libpng.3.gz
> libpng /usr/share/man/man3/libpngpf.3.gz
> libpng /usr/share/man/man5/png.5.gz

If these files are in the same package, they will
be replaced together with the library. As far as
package management is concerned the old version
doesn't exist anymore. The only thing that remains
of it is the actual binary and one symlink, to be
used by apps that have been linked with it. All
the rest can be forgotten.

If these files are not in the same package, there
should be a dependency relation so they are still
replaced together with the binary library file. 

All other distros I've used before just did this,
no fuss, no problems. 

Besides, what is the point of a 'rolling release'
if you are still forced to do bulk updates as a
side effect ? With a non-rolling versioned release
at least this happens only when you expect it.

Ciao,

-- 
FA

O tu, che porte, correndo si ?
E guerra e morte !