>That’s what is done with maven when you want to force a newer version than the one embedded by dependency
Remember there are frameworks and there are libraries. binary distribution of JMeter is a framework: it enforces you to put jars into relevant places, and start with ./jmeter. On the other hand, jar files on Maven Central are libraries. They do not enforce the way you use them. The one who uses Maven artifacts is free to select the suitable versions. The rule for dependencies should be as follows: 1) If we use the class (e.g. in extends, method parameter or method returning value), then the dependency should be explicitly declared 2) If we do not use a dependency (e.g. we do not use asm explicitly), then the dependency should not be declared 3) The exception to #2 is the case when the transitive version is too old (e.g. contains security issue), then we could still declare an "unused dependency". Unfortunately, there's no validation for the dependencies yet, and I'm planning to implement one shortly. Vladimir
