Ideas and questions on pkgsrc

[Jeremy C. Reed]

On Tue, 13 Apr 2010, Matthew Dillon wrote:

>     I haven't yet tried pkgin.  But here's my question:  One thing apt-get
>     does very well is it doesn't blow up your existing installs if
>     it can't completely update everything that needs to be updated
>     to install the application you want.  That is, it stages everything
>     and makes sure it has all the pieces before it touches the installed
>     base.
> 
>     Does pkgin do that?

It should. It use the pkg_summary database to make sure dependencies are 
correct, there aren't conflicts, there is enough space to download and 
install, and that shared libraries are provided. Then it downloads all 
dependencies before it begins. Note it needs the packages' metadata 
built with recording this shared libraries provided or required if that 
is desired.  pkgin has had some problems for me, but it has also been a 
good timesaver. Probably with more use and more feedback, it can be 
improved.

As for Debian, if you have any details on the stages you can point me to 
that would be great. (I do use apt-get but it has been a while since I 
studied it.)