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> I don’t see why the package manager should prevent using it with another library that depends on a different version. I do. The main reason for Linux distrib
by throwaway129013 6y ago
> I don’t see why the package manager should prevent using it with another library that depends on a different version.
I do. The main reason for Linux distributions to exists is to provide a development and running environment where:
- API/ABIs do not change for the whole lifetime of the distribution. No new features, no new bugs, no new vulnerabilities, so that your production code can run reliably for 5+ years.
- Vulnerabilities are fixed with minimally invasive patches.
- Vulnerabilities are fixed in reasonable times even if the upstream development stopped. Patches are well tested against the set of packages in the distribution.
You simply cannot have these 3 features together if a distribution ships 10 different version of each library.
It's already a ton of work to maintain packages in stable distributions.
- wtetzner 6y agoI’m confused by your comment. This is about a programming language package manager, not an OS package manager. Or was that just an example?