Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2025 07:24:20 +0000 From: Sad Clouds <cryintothebluesky@gmail.com> To: Dag-Erling =?UTF-8?B?U23DuHJncmF2?= <des@FreeBSD.org> Cc: Lexi Winter <ivy@freebsd.org>, FreeBSD questions <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: (2517) the error message when removing a dependency of a vital package is uninformative Message-ID: <20251211072420.4350aa5da39e3687d41b55aa@gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <86qzt2c9zj.fsf@ltc.des.dev> References: <20251205122830.cb88058f193987b47a95a77c@gmail.com> <20251205134510.6fae5caf@dorfdsl.de> <20251205143119.441cc1bd8722345d074a4480@gmail.com> <16e766b9-f442-4cef-a991-c940f6b8182a@gmail.com> <20251207081139.7e2f65b97b4c089ac0add431@gmail.com> <aTkvIvFJHLf4WxUa@amaryllis.le-fay.org> <20251210153310.a4b1864ae2502787000b2369@gmail.com> <86zf7qcf3w.fsf@ltc.des.dev> <20251210201629.b38dac931a98db3b0318e2b0@gmail.com> <86qzt2c9zj.fsf@ltc.des.dev>
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On Wed, 10 Dec 2025 22:17:36 +0100 Dag-Erling Smørgrav <des@FreeBSD.org> wrote: > Sad Clouds <cryintothebluesky@gmail.com> writes: > > Dag-Erling Smørgrav <des@FreeBSD.org> writes: > > > There is no sets command. Type `pkg help sets` and you will > > > understand. > > OK thanks for the clarification. So it's an internal alias that > > masquerades like a pkg command. > > I don't know what you mean by “internal alias” or “masquerading”. It's > an alias, which is a well-documented feature of pkg. Those of us whose > machines have been upgraded incrementally for years or decades don't > have it because it's a relatively recent addition and upgrading pkg does > not update pkg.conf, where aliases are defined. If you want to know > what it does, you type `pkg help sets`, see that it is an alias for `pkg > info` with some arguments, and type `pkg help info` to learn what those > arguments mean. > > DES > -- > Dag-Erling Smørgrav - des@FreeBSD.org I'm thinking more about the command behavior rather than just being aware that something is an alias. Hence: "Internal alias" refers to pkg internal functionality to create command aliases, rather than shell aliases, etc. "Masquerading" refers to pkg (via a "sets" alias) giving an illusion of a dedicated command to view the base sets. However since it is not a dedicated command, it may have unwanted side effects, for example if someone creates a third party package which starts with "FreeBSD-set-" string, then "pkg sets" may list that package as well, creating confusion. I'm not criticising pkg command or the decision to adopt it for the base packages. I understand the benefits of code reuse and familiarity for the existing users. However I personally think that a dedicated syspkg tool with a completely separate implementation could be a better design strategy. But then as a software developer myself I know that it is much easier to criticise someone's efforts and much harder to roll up your sleeves the write the code yourself. I'm grateful to the FreeBSD community for their efforts and politely answering questions on this mailing list.home | help
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