Arch Linux

musiKk

Member

Registered: 2011-05-21

Posts: 12

Issues with switching packages with the same dependent

As I switched to Xfce I wanted to install xfce4-goodies which installs (among others) xfce4-notifyd which conflicts with notification-daemon (and also provides it... wth? I think I have some reading to do). network-manager-applet depends on notification-daemon so I could not install xfce4-notifyd without removing network-manager-applet first. After xfce4-notifyd was installed I could reinstall network-manager-applet because all dependencies are met. Maybe this can be done in one swoop but I don't know how.

Is there a way to replace the package in place? Shouldn't pacman be able to see this itself? After all, the dependencies are met prior to the transaction as well as after it. Is it a security measure that ensures the system is in a consistent state in case pacman or the system crashes while installing?

Another candidate is pacman-color. Whenever pacman got updated, pacman-color would block it and I could not update pacman-color because it depended on the new pacman version. Sort of a chicken and egg problem. But since pacman-color is in AUR, I don't think I have a right to complain...

Thanks
mK

toffyrn

Member

Registered: 2008-10-07

Posts: 221

Re: Issues with switching packages with the same dependent

I thought a simple "pacman -S xfce4-notifyd" would replace "notification-daemon".
"Conflict" means that both packages cant be installed at the same time, however "xfce4..." provides "notifi...." meaning that all functionallity is provided.
So, both cant be installed, but both provides the same functionality (at least).

Packages in AUR are not handled by pacman, so you need to handle dependencies for yourself there

Lux Perpetua

Member

From: The Local Group

Registered: 2009-02-22

Posts: 74

Re: Issues with switching packages with the same dependent

I thought a simple "pacman -S xfce4-notifyd" would replace "notification-daemon".

Right, doesn't it prompt you to remove notification-daemon when you do that?

I guess the "long way around" would be to remove notification-daemon first with pacman -Rd (skip dependency checks) and then install xfce4-notifyd normally. (I think it's okay to skip dependency checks this time, since you know that you're going to install a replacement immediately.)

musiKk

Member

Registered: 2011-05-21

Posts: 12

Re: Issues with switching packages with the same dependent

I thought a simple "pacman -S xfce4-notifyd" would replace "notification-daemon".

Right, doesn't it prompt you to remove notification-daemon when you do that?

It does and I replied in the affirmative but since network-manager-applet depends on notification-daemon pacman bailed out. Maybe -d or -f help but I try to keep my pacman use as simple as possible.

I guess the "long way around" would be to remove notification-daemon first with pacman -Rd (skip dependency checks) and then install xfce4-notifyd normally. (I think it's okay to skip dependency checks this time, since you know that you're going to install a replacement immediately.)

I think this solution is not bad. I didn't really know how pacman handles dependencies and how "provides" works but well, now I do.

karol

Archivist

Registered: 2009-05-06

Posts: 25,440

Re: Issues with switching packages with the same dependent

I thought a simple "pacman -S xfce4-notifyd" would replace "notification-daemon".

Right, doesn't it prompt you to remove notification-daemon when you do that?

It does and I replied in the affirmative but since network-manager-applet depends on notification-daemon pacman bailed out. Maybe -d or -f help but I try to keep my pacman use as simple as possible.

There's nothing to be afraid of, just read the man page, because now it's '-dd', not '-d' :-)