[arch-general] Dependency Hell

[Chris Tonkinson]

Hi all,

  I have ZFS (from AUR) and VirtualBox (from Community) installed. The
problem is that these both dependend typically on very specific kernel
versions, and usually ("usually" being a subjective and ill-defined term
slanted by when and how often I update my system; at least once per day)
cause dependency failures which prevent *ANY* upgrades from being processed.

  As such, my /etc/pacman.conf contains an ignore declaration:

    IgnorePkg = linux zfs-git spl-git virtualbox virtualbox-host-dkms
virtualbox-host-modules

  So once in a while, I'll comment out my IgnorePkg and attempt a system
update and expect it to fail because getting the kernel, ZFS, and
VirtualBox all to line up at the same time feels like, to quote Scotty,
"trying to hit a bullet with a smaller bullet, whilst wearing a
blindfold, riding a horse."

  Is there any graceful solution here? Clearly the three won't (can't)
ALL be bleeding edge simultaneously, but is there a sane workaround to
keep them as-current-as-possible without pacman barfing on everything
else. It's not immediately obvious to me how to combine IgnorePkg,
HoldPkg, and NoUpgrade to achieve the desired result.

Thanks,
-Chris

-- 
Chris Tonkinson
610.425.7807

  "Lead, follow, or get out of the way."
  -Thomas Paine

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