Re: variant symlinks (was Re: Anybody working on removing sendmail from base?)

[Hiten Pandya <hmp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Matthew Dillon wrote:

>     The critical scenario for which 47 different versions of something might
>     be needed is if you install 200 different ports which happen to depend
>     on 47 different versions of, say, a patricular library.
>
>     Basically the trade-off is:
>
>     (1) Either you upgrade a port and break half the other ports that depend on
>         that port, which is how FreeBSD works now.
>
> 		or
>
>     (2) You upgrade a port, making a new version available, without breaking
> 	half the other ports that depend on the port you upgraded because those
> 	other ports can still be allowed to depend on an older version of the
> 	port.... which means that multiple versions of the dependant port
> 	have to remain in the system.
>
>     Now, reasonably and obviously, one would want to also upgrade all the
>     dependant ports.  Realistically however the process of upgrading dependant
>     ports to use the new version of some dependancy can take weeks or months
>     depending on the complexity of the ports involved.  
>
>     Consider, for example, what happens when one tries to upgrade libpng.
>     Seems simple enough, right?  But there are hundreds of ports which depend
>     on libpng, including openoffice.  Suddenly upgrading libpng is not so
>     simple.
>
>     So we have a classic convenience/space tradeoff here, and I personally
>     far prefer the convenience of being able to upgrade my system without
>     breaking half my ports.

	Hmm, OK, I guess it makes sense then.

	Regards,

--
Hiten Pandya
hmp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx