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> What data are you using for the "Conflicts are rare" statement? |
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> Using |
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> |
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[snip] |
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> |
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> So roughly 25% of the packages in Debian have a Conflicts line, |
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> and ~20 percent have a Replaces line (afaik, replaces is for |
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> when a package changes names). Provides is for meta packages, |
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> and is present in roughly 14% of the packages. |
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> |
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> 25% is certainly not "pretty rare". |
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Not if you take Debian conflicts seriously, but you really shouldnt. |
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Debian packages control /etc to a large extent, and it is very hard to |
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have scripts that properly setup /etc files (esp on Debian where you have |
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the 'alternatives' setup) when a system can potentially have multiple |
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apps/servers that do the same abstract job (MTA/DBMS/HTTPD/SSHD...etc..), |
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so Debian takes care of this by saying "OK, you can only have 1 httpd, 1 |
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DBMS, 1 MTA and 1 sshd". This way, the scipts just have to deal with |
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whatever package they are contained in and dont have to deal with the |
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situation where there is already a package installed that does the same |
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abstract job. |
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|
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Gentoo leaves /etc to the admin, which is good, so there is no reason why |
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Gentoo should have the same "conflicts" that Debian has. |
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|
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Gentoo also installs from sources instead of pre-built binaries, which |
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leaves alot more flexability to the configuration of the system. |
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|
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Basically, Debian conflicts are just that, _Debian_ conflicts, and they |
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should not be taken as anything more than that. |
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-Tom |
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BTW: I am not some seasoned Debian developer, these views come from using |
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Debian for a while and having to work around the various Debian conflicts |
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that I ran into......yes, Debian conflicts irritate the hell out of me :) |
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