On Wed, Sep 18, 2002 at 03:28:59PM -0400, Paul DiMarco wrote: > my beef is why don't rpm files have all the libraries included in > them? Wouldn't that make our lives easier? I am I the only one who > finds this strange? Perhaps there is a logical explanation to this > madness. > > Please explain.
Others have explained that this is due to shared libraries... > Frowning newbie. > :( And here, even though you have an explanation, I will say you are still right to frown! I call it the "install problem": - install A, - install B, - install C, - remove B, - remove C, - remove A. And I don't just want the above sequence, but any sequence. I want to be able to have a new and old version of the same application installed at the same time, let me use each, and let me keep the one I like. Simple request. But can a hypothetical computer person accomplish that sequence? Does the computer still work at the end of that sequence? Is the computer left the way it started, or did it get fatter? Did all the installed applications work at each step along the way? Can this sequence be done in a short amount of time? Can it be done by a non-expert (say, the computer's owner and user)? In my experience, the answers are not what one would like. RPMs are powerful, and they are part of the solution, but they are not a sufficient solution, at least not if you ask me. I say the above 6 operations could easily be be controlled by a user only dragging icons in and out--but those drags need to be far more subtle than coping single files. What I don't know is whether Linux can even theoretically do what I describe above; I don't think that different versions of the same shared library can be installed at once. (What if A and B both depend upon the same library, but each needs its own version?) This requires a system that keeps track of dependencies, resolves them when needed and preserves them while needed. I wish such a thing existed. -kb, the Kent who hasn't seen this since work since before the Macintosh had shared libraries. -- redhat-list mailing list unsubscribe mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?subject=unsubscribe https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/redhat-list
