[Mageia-dev] Proposed Feature:Backports_update_applet

[blind Pete]

Samuel Verschelde wrote:

> Following Backports opening due soon, and since our policy is that
> backports are supported (security, bugfix), we need a way to push backport
> updates for users who installed backports. Otherwise, we can't really say
> that we're providing security updates to our backports.
> 
> My feature proposal is to implement something similar to what mgaonline +
> MageiaUpdate does for updates, but for backports, with some changes due to
> the fact that users will rarely want that "all" packages on the system be
> updated from backports when the backports media are activated.
> 
> https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Feature:Backports_update_applet
> 
> I don't think I can do the dev myself. I can work on more detailed
> specifications with a developer though.
> 
> Samuel

There are a multiple ways that this problem could be handled.  
Yours is one.  

Samuel's way: 

Need "something" to know that a backport package 
has been installed, to remember that fact, and to do an extra 
backport update search when looking for updates.  

It would need to keep working if the user changed desktop 
environments, or even stopped used a desktop and just used 
the command line.  Does mgaonline do this?  There could be 
room to improve that.  

If it can be detected that a backport package has been installed 
(or less efficiently, detect that a backports repository 
has been activated) set up a cron job (or reconfigure mgaonline) 
and leave it like that for the life of the installation.  

Geeks way: 

Only use urpmi as a command line tool and edit urpmi.cfg with vi.  

When activating a backports repository mark it as an update 
repository.  Then update with "urpmi --excludemedia [backport media, ...]"
accepting all suggestions, followed by "urpmi --auto-select" 
and look at what is offered before accepting.  

My suggestion: 

Add "bp" to the package name and have separate backports update 
repositories.  

Users would then be able to cherry pick from backports and 
updates should _just work_ without extra intervention.  

The only difficulty that I can think of is, when a backport 
(or backport update) package is pushed to updates.  It would 
not be necessary to do a real update but the rpm database 
should be updated such that version N-bp supersedes version N.  
(And the N-bp packages should be removed from the repositories.)  

Can anyone see any holes in the logic?  

What would be easiest to implement?  

-- 
blind Pete
Sig goes here...