Q: Can multiople versions of packages be installed under debian? (perhaps using a forced install of some sort?)
Q: Would a file tree layout that allowed be against policy? - I am attempting to package something new (a graphics language for scientific plot called gri). I hope to convince the author to change his license to allow insertion into main (or at least non-free), but want to get packaging done first. The software historically installs in an /opt tree that handled versions: /opt/bin/gri -> /opt/gri/bin/gri /opt/bin/gri-2.1.17 -> /opt/gri/2.1.17/bin/gri /opt/gri/bin/gri -> /opt/gri/2.1.17/bin/gri /opt/gri/lib/gri.cmd -> /opt/gri/2.1.17/lib/gri.cmd /opt/gri/2.1.17/bin/gri /opt/gri/2.1.17/lib/gri.cmd So if you had prior versions, you could keep them and get, for example: /opt/bin/gri -> /opt/gri/bin/gri /opt/bin/gri-2.1.17 -> /opt/gri/2.1.17/bin/gri /opt/bin/gri-2.1.15 -> /opt/gri/2.1.15/bin/gri /opt/gri/bin/gri -> /opt/gri/2.1.17/bin/gri /opt/gri/lib/gri.cmd -> /opt/gri/2.1.17/lib/gri.cmd /opt/gri/2.1.15/bin/gri /opt/gri/2.1.15/lib/gri.cmd /opt/gri/2.1.17/bin/gri /opt/gri/2.1.17/lib/gri.cmd So `gri' would always point to the latest installed version, but `gri-VERSION' also existed and coexisted with prior versions. This is to protect the user from gri version incompatibilities after the user has spent a day tweaking a plot to look just right under a given version of gri. I can easily change the above /opt tree to conform to a much simpler /usr tree that would allow for multiple versions to coexist: /usr/bin/gri -> /usr/bin/gri-2.1.17 /usr/bin/gri-2.1.17 /usr/bin/gri-2.1.15 /usr/lib/gri/2.1.15/gri.cmd /usr/lib/gri/2.1.17/gri.cmd This ressembles an emacs layout. The question is: Can Debian support this? If I install a new version of the package, will dpkg insist on removing the old? Or can I keep them both? (There are /usr/doc and /usr/info files that would be over-written, but that would be okay as far as I'm concerned. They don't change much and could reflect the very latest version.) Or, must I simply the tree further to: /usr/bin/gri /usr/lib/gri/gri.cmd in order to conform with Debian policy? Any input appreciated... -- Peter Galbraith, research scientist <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Maurice Lamontagne Institute, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada P.O. Box 1000, Mont-Joli Qc, G5H 3Z4 Canada. 418-775-0852 FAX: 775-0546 6623'rd Linux user at the Linux Counter -- http://counter.li.org/ -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
