Hi! On Fri, 2023-12-15 at 16:40:09 +0000, Sean Whitton wrote: > On Fri 01 Dec 2023 at 02:11pm +01, Helmut Grohne wrote: > > §7.4 currently starts with: > > > > When one binary package declares a conflict with another using a > > Conflicts field, dpkg will refuse to allow them to be unpacked on > > the system at the same time. > > > > I believe this is technically wrong. There are situations where dpkg > > will allow such unpacks to temporarily co-exist. §6.6 goes into further > > detail and is accurate. > > Thank you for the detailed report. > > Do the dpkg and apt people think that the bug here is just in Policy, or > are there any code changes under consideration in response to this work?
I think it is just a documentation issue in the Debian Policy, yes. At least the dpkg behavior seems entirely correct to me and required for safe upgrades (and definitely not something like an accidental regression as it has behaved that way since pretty much the beginning of its git history). In addition I think the paragraph in §7.4 that states: ,--- A package will not cause a conflict merely because its configuration files are still installed; it must be at least “Half-Installed”. `--- could also be clarified that what is stated here does not apply either to conflicting packages that are being removed, as those will be in half-installed state. Perhaps as part of this, also make this state change explicit in §6.6.2.3. Thanks, Guillem
