Date: Wed, 03 May 2017 08:03:36 -0400 From: <scratch65535@att.net> To: freebsd-ports <ports@freebsd.org> Subject: pkg and packages Message-ID: <chgjgc91bp3vu3aufg8p9cavrp7iehvhei@4ax.com>
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After doing a general pkg upgrade on my server-of-all-work, I discovered after some research that the Big Grey Background I was left with was due to pkg having deleted, but not replaced, xfce4 desktop. Trying to install the desktop package, I discovered that it's bundled with at least 2 unrelated pieces of software: Thunar, and samba44. That bothered me, but I needed the desktop. pkg got totally confused during the install, first downloading 44 and THEN noticing the conflict with 46. So it downloaded 46, too(!), deleted the existing 46, installed 44, and then tried to re-install 46, failing with a complaint because it had just installed 44 and that created a conflict. But it gets better. Trying to reinstall the samba46 package, I discovered that I'd have to sacrifice the desktop that I just installed. Clearly, no good can come of packaging unrelated software together, so there needs to be a way to prevent that, or at least criticise those who do it. And pkg should (a) check for later versions *before* downloading older ones, (b) preferably not install old versions over newer without explicit permission, and (c) as a fallback should allow packages to be decomposed at install time such that installation is not a yes/no all-or-nothing choice.
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