Hi everyone! Problem: Currently the files at /etc/alternatives/* are a mix of files owned by some packages, and not owned by any package: vcuadradojuan@viccuad ~$ rpm -qf /etc/alternatives/* file /etc/alternatives/alternate-install-present is not owned by any package python-boto-2.38.0-5.2.noarch gawk-4.1.3-4.5.x86_64 gawk-4.1.3-4.5.x86_64 python-boto-2.38.0-5.2.noarch python-boto-2.38.0-5.2.noarch python-boto-2.38.0-5.2.noarch file /etc/alternatives/coverage is not owned by any package python-boto-2.38.0-5.2.noarch file /etc/alternatives/ctags is not owned by any package file /etc/alternatives/ctags.1 is not owned by any package python-boto-2.38.0-5.2.noarch ... If you see upstream usage for update-alternatives (Debian), all those files in /etc/alternatives/* are not owned by any package: vic@clotho ~$ dpkg -S /etc/alternatives/* dpkg-query: no path found matching pattern /etc/alternatives/aclocal dpkg-query: no path found matching pattern /etc/alternatives/aclocal.1.gz dpkg-query: no path found matching pattern /etc/alternatives/animate dpkg-query: no path found matching pattern /etc/alternatives/animate.1.gz dpkg-query: no path found matching pattern /etc/alternatives/appletviewer dpkg-query: no path found matching pattern /etc/alternatives/appletviewer.1.gz dpkg-query: no path found matching pattern /etc/alternatives/aptitude dpkg-query: no path found matching pattern /etc/alternatives/aptitude.8.gz dpkg-query: no path found matching pattern /etc/alternatives/aptitude.cs.8.gz dpkg-query: no path found matching pattern /etc/alternatives/aptitude.de.8.gz dpkg-query: no path found matching pattern /etc/alternatives/aptitude.es.8.gz dpkg-query: no path found matching pattern /etc/alternatives/automake dpkg-query: no path found matching pattern /etc/alternatives/automake.1.gz dpkg-query: no path found matching pattern /etc/alternatives/awk ... Upstream's usage is consistent with what update-alternatives(8) implies and what common sense says. In the wiki [1] there's some mention to update-alternatives, and it contains a mention to add `%ghost %_sysconfdir/alternatives/foo`, which can explain why some packages own files there and why some not. If a package owns the symlinks there, IMHO it overcomplicates things, such problems when updating a package, and forgetting to redo `update-alternatives --config`, etc. Also, there's a chance that it didn't use update-alternatives and it did set up the links manually; breaking the mechanism of update-alternatives. As it stands right now, it seems wrong to me. Either we make all links owned by packages or not. I haven't filled any bug yet, since that would need to need a mass bug filling for all the packages that own files in /etc/alternatives/*. I would love to gather some ideas and consensus on this, and ideally, get a policy on how update-alternatives should be used, and have an rpmlint check written/improved so we can start filling bugs per package. Cheers, Víctor Cuadrado (viccuad) -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-factory+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-factory+owner@opensuse.org