Prompted by the recent problem with ADA and /usr/bin/gcc, I've added the new rule below to the policy manual in dpkg 1.4.0.
Ian. <sect>Use of <prgn/dpkg-divert/ and <prgn/update-alternatives/ <p> Do not use <prgn/dpkg-divert/ on a file belonging to another package without consulting the maintainer of that package first. <p> In order for <prgn/update-alternatives/ to work correctly all the packages which supply an instance of the `shared' command name (or, in general, filename) must use it. You can use <tt/Conflicts/ to force the deinstallation of other packages supplying it which do not (yet) use <prgn/update-alternatives/. It may in this case be appropriate to specify a conflict on earlier versions on something - this is an exception to the usual rule that this is not allowed.
