Hi Aurelien, On Tue, Jul 02, 2024 at 09:36:36PM +0000, Aurelien Jarno wrote: > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > debian/control.in/libc: add breaks against base-files version not providing > /usr-merge aliasing symlinks. Closes: #1074368. > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
I see you resolved the guestfs issue by adding Breaks. I don't quite like this outcome and would like to discuss alternative solutions. When I created these patches, I carefully ensured that the order of upgrades (base-files vs libc6) would work in both orderings. In adding Breaks you restrict the ordering and I am already seeing how this makes upgrades from bookworm to trixie more difficult (due to the imposed ordering). My change makes libc6 require something else to provide the aliasing symbolic links and the added Breaks is one way to ensure their presence. I argue that the links are already ensured by having essential init-system-helpers depend on usr-is-merged. The failure in libguestfs-tools is a bug there in my opinion. It uses the host system to construct a VM environment and fails to account for the aliasing links created by usrmerge or debootstrap not recorded in a packaging database. This is unfortunate, but not a bug in libc6 as it correctly explains its requirements (via an implicit dependency on essential packages). I argue that the risk of running a partially upgraded system and running libguestfs tests is fairly low at this time as both packages have migrated and trixie-based images typically have been updated (even in a monthly cadence) to include all relevant changes. Hence, I argue that at this time the cost of including this Breaks outweighs its benefits. Do you agree with this reasoning? Helmut
