[quotation from sarge_rc_policy.txt:] > > Packages listed in "Pre-Depends:" must be (adequately) functional > > when unpacked but not installed.
[quotation from policy:] > > When a package declaring a pre-dependency is about to be > > _unpacked_ the pre-dependency can be satisfied if the depended-on > > package is either fully configured, _or even if_ the depended-on > > package(s) are only unpacked or half-configured, provided that > > they have been configured correctly at some point in the past > > (and not removed or partially removed since). In this case, both > > the previously-configured and currently unpacked or > > half-configured versions must satisfy any version clause in the > > `Pre-Depends' field. On Sat, 2003-09-06 at 14:06, Santiago Vila wrote in debian-devel: > Does the word "adequately" not summarizes pretty much the "long version" > in policy? The sarge_rc_policy text doesn't summarize the policy text. Policy doesn't impose any special requirements on a pre-depended-on package; policy imposes a requirement on dpkg, telling it that it may only install the pre-depending package if the pre-depended-on package has already been unpacked and configured. (The point of this requirement is to provide a mechanism whereby a package can require another package to be configured before the first's preinst and unpack happens.) The sarge_rc_policy text does impose a special requirement on a pre-depended-on package: it says that the pre-depended-on package must be functional even when not configured. AJT has written the following in explanation of the sarge_rc_policy text: > Apt (generally) guarantees pre-dep'ed packages are configured before > unpacking, but dpkg doesn't. Consider (if you were around in those > days) the Unpack/Configure/Configure/Configure/Configure cycles we > used to go through with dpkg. But we don't require Debian users to > use apt. So it seems that the sarge_rc_policy requirement is additional to policy and is intended to deal with a shortcoming in dpkg. Please correct me if I am wrong. -- Thomas Hood
