Dependency loops considered harmful?

[Michael Schwendt]

On Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:59:17 -0400, Chris Snook wrote:

> >> For example, why games data depend on binaries?
> > 
> > So that if we try to upgrade the version of the binaries and not the data,
> > it will fail. We can still bump the release in most cases, allowing for
> > minot fixes without requiring the user to download the same data again.
> 
> It sounds like people are using Requires: foo >= X where they should be using 
> Conflicts: foo < X.  There's no harm done if you install a game data file and 
> the game isn't installed.  Please don't create dependency loops.

Exactly. And in this particular case, the foo >= X dep adds no value at
all, because it's >= and that's not suitable for preventing accidental
upgrades. The primary dependency in the main program package is
foo-data = X. Strict and decisive.