[packagekit] package reinstallation

[Richard Hughes]

On 7 July 2014 16:21, Michal Minář <miminar at redhat.com> wrote:
> The thing is that our previous implementation used yum as a backend.
> We've covered most of its functionality and *reinstall* is one of its
> commands. Now we'd like to have PackageKit-based implementation
> supporting all the features of the former one.

But why? What problem are you expecting re-install to fix?

> I see it as a problem of backend to solve the dependencies and security
> gotchas.

There's a significant amount of policy required on how to handle
downgrading. It's further complicated as distros like fedora only
carry the latest version of a package on the mirrors, so you have to
go hunting for an old mirror which is further complexity, and also a
security risk as the mirrors have to be treated as untrusted.

> You are right. This is a fairly common use case though.

It is? What actual uses cases can you identify? I couldn't see many
requirements from those bugzillas you linked, but only looked quickly.
Thanks.

Richard.