On Wed, Mar 27, 2019 at 02:23:41PM +0000, Justin B Rye wrote: > diff --git a/en/upgrading.dbk b/en/upgrading.dbk > index a22924f3..37fa449d 100644 > --- a/en/upgrading.dbk > +++ b/en/upgrading.dbk > @@ -1311,24 +1311,25 @@ $ aptitude purge '~c' > </para> > > <section id="dummy"> > - <title>Dummy packages</title> > - <para> > - Some packages from &oldreleasename; have been split into several > packages in &releasename;, often > - to improve system maintainability. To ease the upgrade path in such > cases, > - &releasename; often provides <quote>dummy</quote> packages: empty > packages that have the same name as > - the old package in &oldreleasename; with dependencies that cause the > new packages to be > - installed. These <quote>dummy</quote> packages are considered > redundant after the > - upgrade and can be safely removed. > - </para> > - <para> > - Most (but not all) dummy packages' descriptions indicate their purpose. > - Package descriptions for dummy packages are not uniform, however, so > you might > - also find <command>deborphan</command> with the > + <title>Transitional dummy packages</title> > + <para> > + Some packages from &oldreleasename; may have been replaced in > &releasename; > + by transitional dummy packages, which are empty placeholders designed > to > + simplify upgrades. If for instance an application that was formerly a > single > + package has been split into several, a transitional package may be > provided > + with the same name as the old package and with appropriate > dependencies to > + cause the new ones to be installed. After this has happened the > redundant > + dummy package can be safely removed. > + </para> > + <para> > + The package descriptions for transitional dummy packages usually > indicate their > + purpose. However, they are not uniform; in particular, some > <quote>dummy</quote> > + packages are designed to be kept installed (e.g. to express a > dependency on > + the current latest version of some program). You might also find > + <command>deborphan</command> with the > <literal>--guess-<replaceable>*</replaceable></literal> options (e.g. > - <literal>--guess-dummy</literal>) useful to detect them in your > system. Note > - that some dummy packages are not intended to be removed after an > upgrade but > - are, instead, used to keep track of the current available version of a > program > - over time. > + <literal>--guess-dummy</literal>) useful to detect transitional dummy > packages > + on your system. > </para> > </section> >
I agree with everything you've said about this text but as regards the patch I think some mention of tracking packages should be kept. Something like: One class of dummy package that are not intended to be removed are <quote>tracking</quote> packages, which are used to keep track of the current available version of a program over time. A common case is <literal>linux-image-</literal>-&architecture;. Kind Regards Vince
