[gentoo-dev] Re: [RFC] New version constraints: variant one

[Ulrich Mueller]

>>>>> On Thu, 10 Nov 2016, Michał Górny wrote:

> The following revision-free version comparison operators are provided:

>  ==   exact version match, or prefix match (with *)
>  !=   exact version non-match, or prefix non-match (with *)
>  <    version less than match
>  <=   version less or equal to match
>  >    version greater than match
>  >=   version greater or equal to match

I think we should stick to the existing operators, and not introduce
two slightly different sets for different contexts.

Especially:
- The operator for exact version match should be = not ==.
- Omit the != operator because it can be confused with blockers. If an
  operator for inequality is needed, we can add one but it should work
  everywhere (we could e.g. use <> for that).
- The ~ operator is missing.

> All those operators compare on versions ignoring the revision part.

I am strictly opposed to this. Again, it is confusing to have the same
operators acting in a different way depending on context.

> The following revision-oriented version comparison operators are
> provided:

>  ===  exact version+revision match
>  !==  exact version+revision non-match
>  <==  version+revision less or equal to match
>  >==  version+revision greater or equal to match

These are not necessary if the regular operators match revision.

Ulrich