On Thu, 2006-05-18 at 16:53 -0500, Les Mikesell wrote: > On Thu, 2006-05-18 at 16:36, Karl Larsen wrote: > > > > > > No, you should use rpm -Uvh to install or upgrade packages. Use > > > rpm -i only when you want to install package even if there's an > > > older version (e.g. for kernel packages). > > > > > > > > Sorry, I own a copy of Maximum RPM and it goes into details for > > every control letter. There is no old copy of Adobe Acrobat here. If > > there was one it would error out telling me so. It didn't. It's > > installed and working. > > -U always works and saves the time of thinking about whether > it's the first install or not. I think the kernel is the > only thing that lets you keep multiple copies anyway. It isn't the *only* thing (the qt4 package going through the Extras review process at the moment springs to mind as an example I came across yesterday) but packages have to be carefully designed to be parallel-installable by using version/release numbers in all pathnames to avoid pathname conflicts. For most packages containing binaries, this isn't even possible. The kernel (and associated modules) are certainly the only things commonly parallel-installed. Paul.
