From: Russ Allbery <rra@debian.org>
Date: Sat, 3 Jul 2010 20:24:03 +0000 (-0700)
Subject: Breaks/Conflicts should not be used unless necessary
X-Git-Url: https://git.donarmstrong.com/?a=commitdiff_plain;h=f00d60803439e95784488d7fa5be9ede9ca0c2e2;p=debian%2Fdebian-policy.git

Breaks/Conflicts should not be used unless necessary

State explicitly that Breaks and Conflicts should only be used where
needed, and should not be used if two packages merely provide similar
functionality.
---

diff --git a/policy.sgml b/policy.sgml
index bad28af..efda2a1 100644
--- a/policy.sgml
+++ b/policy.sgml
@@ -4777,6 +4777,15 @@ Build-Depends: foo [linux-any], bar [any-i386], baz [!linux-any]
 	  example, <ref id="binaries">.
 	</p>
 
+	<p>
+	  Neither <tt>Breaks</tt> nor <tt>Conflicts</tt> should be used
+	  unless two packages cannot be installed at the same time or
+	  installing them both causes one of them to be broken or
+	  unusable.  Having similar functionality or performing the same
+	  tasks as another package is not sufficient reason to
+	  declare <tt>Breaks</tt> or <tt>Conflicts</tt> with that package.
+	</p>
+
 	<p>
 	  A <tt>Conflicts</tt> entry may have an "earlier than" version
 	  clause if the reason for the conflict is corrected in a later