Hi!
We'd like to propose a new functionality for dnf: When a user tries to
install a package XYZ and dnf doesn't find it, dnf would recommend them
alternative packages. These offered packages would advertise that they
are an alternative for XYZ using a specially formatted Provides tag.
For example, packages `python2-requests` and `python3-requests` would
both have the following tag:
Provides: alternative-for(python-requests) = %{version}-%{release}
(Possibly via the already existing and widespread %python_provide macro
in the Python case.)
And when the user would try to install `python-requests`, dnf would look
for packages with the relevant Provides tag and display them:
# dnf install python-requests
* There are following alternatives to this package:
python2-requests python3-requests
No match for argument: python-requests
Error: Unable to find a match
This would be very similar to an already existing functionality that
searches for lowercase package names:
# dnf install python3-REQUESTS
* Maybe you meant: python3-requests
No match for argument: python3-REQUESTS
Error: Unable to find a match
(That functionality is broken in some versions—RHBZ#1628514—so you might
not see this result at the moment.)
What are your thoughts?
One possible addition would be to include a parameter for weight in the
Provides tag, so that python3-requests could be listed as the preferred
option before python2-requests.
All the best,
Tomas Orsava
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