On Thu, 16 Jun 2016 10:51:29 +0100 Andrew Haley <aph@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > On 16/06/16 04:29, Tim wrote: > > > The point of shared libraries is efficiency. Just wait to you > > install a dozen things that required Java, for instance, and they > > all decide that they need to bring in their own, rather than use a > > system installation. > > Here's a thought: couldn't this system use MD5sums to de-dupe shared > files? Then you'd solve the dependency problems and not waste space > on duplicated files. I think that what you are envisioning has already been done by this version of linux and its package manager. https://nixos.org/nix/ I remember reading a critique of this scheme on the nix list at one time, by someone from Fedora, and the critique made sense, but I can't remember what it was. I just mention it to highlight that thoughtful and knowledgeable people can find flaws in nix's way of doing things. What I want is a system that allows installed packages that might be orphaned to continue functioning. And transparent upgrades in parallel. The package manager could be instructed to find unused leaves and remove them, or to remove older versions of libraries or applications. No more releases, just a continuous process of upgrade, with rollback capability. If someone releases a newer version of a package that other packages depend on, it installs without demur, and as those packages are upgraded, they install quietly, and their old versions are removed. When the old package has no more references to it, it is garbage collected. Security issues? For sure. But I think they could be managed. In return, that file viewer you loved from three releases ago, that is no longer in the repositories, still functions, with all its warts and features and security holes. Not an expert, so maybe this is completely flawed and unworkable in the real world. -- users mailing list users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://lists.fedoraproject.org/admin/lists/users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Fedora Code of Conduct: http://fedoraproject.org/code-of-conduct Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines Have a question? Ask away: http://ask.fedoraproject.org
