[arch-general] Dependency Hell

[Maxime Gauduin]

On Tue, Jul 15, 2014 at 3:27 PM, Chris Tonkinson <chris at tonkinson.com>
wrote:

> 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
>
>
Looking at your IgnorePkg line, I assume you have both
virtualbox-host-{dkms,modules} installed. Why? In the end they both provide
the modules, only one is needed.


>   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.
>
>
Yes they can, just install virtualbox-host-dkms and zfs-dkms-git, and build
the modules via dkms. No need for ugly workarounds.


> Thanks,
> -Chris
>
> --
> Chris Tonkinson
> 610.425.7807
>
>   "Lead, follow, or get out of the way."
>   -Thomas Paine
>
>
Cheers,

-- 
Maxime