Kernel module packages (was - Re: Pre-Review: Asterisk)

[seth vidal]

> Well, right now, yum has a list of packages which are "install-only". We
> could add a list of packages that are "upgrade-special". When we make
> the rpm changes, we add a new flag, say "-S" (and the corresponding
> hooks). Then, any package in the upgrade-special list (which could
> include a kernel-module-foo mask) would be handled with the rpm -S
> operation. I'm sure the apt and smart folks would be able to adapt to
> the new mechanism as well.
> 
> Then, if it doesn't work, instead of trying to figure out which hack
> implementation isn't working right, we have one implementation to
> troubleshoot: the one in rpm.
> 
> Seth, I'd be very interested in your opinion on this, as it relates to
> yum.

Sorry for the long delay on this response - I was kinda under the
weather and only recently going through the mail backlog.

making a new transaction state that handles these things will be the
harder part, I think.

Let me comment on your original rpm -S mechanism:

> - rpm looks for existing packages which match %{name}-%{version} for
> each of these pending update packages.
>  - if found, then compare %{release} with that existing  
>    %{name}-%{version} package
>   - if %{release} of pending update is greater than existing, then 
>     upgrade ONLY that existing package with same %{name}-%{update}

That should say %{name}-%{version},right?
And what you really want here is:
mark for install the new name-ver package
mark for erase the package with the matching n-v-a but older e-v-r

Is that right?

-sv