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On Wed, May 11, 2011 at 4:43 PM, John <jdm@×××××××××××××××××××.uk> wrote: |
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> |
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> Have noticed that some packages require virtual packages to installed |
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> as well. For example when installing dev-db/mysql, virtual/mysql is |
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> installed as well. |
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> |
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> What are the purposes of these "virtual" packages?? |
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I think it is usually when there are alternatives available which can |
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fit the dependency. For example, you could use MySQL or MariaDB to |
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satisfy virtual/mysql dependency. That way the alternatives can be |
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defined once in the virtual package, rather than in every single |
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package that uses MySQL. |
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