Re:Linux Mint downloads (briefly) compromised
by zamalek on Monday February 22, 2016 @09:55AM
(#11151129)
> unusable by hijacking it's name space
That's not what was exactly written but is illuminating none-the-less (the original quote only says "name," which is a very different thing to "namespace"). Why do package managers have a single namespace to begin with? I should be able to install packages regardless of name conflicts, by using a namespace, e.g.
$> apt-get install mdm
Found org.debian.mdm and com.linuxmint.mdm.
$> apt-get install com.linuxmint.mdm
$> apt-get install org.debian.mdm
There's obviously the chance for a file system conflict, but the package manager should be able to keep track of that for you and abort if it would occur (or allow you to install it to a different prefix).
It's incredibly naive to believe that name conflicts would never occur, especially with the 3-letter acronyms/contractions that are so prevalent in Unix. I'd pin the blame this specific problem squarely on Debian, it shouldn't be happening in the first place.
That's not what was exactly written but is illuminating none-the-less (the original quote only says "name," which is a very different thing to "namespace"). Why do package managers have a single namespace to begin with? I should be able to install packages regardless of name conflicts, by using a namespace, e.g.
There's obviously the chance for a file system conflict, but the package manager should be able to keep track of that for you and abort if it would occur (or allow you to install it to a different prefix).It's incredibly naive to believe that name conflicts would never occur, especially with the 3-letter acronyms/contractions that are so prevalent in Unix. I'd pin the blame this specific problem squarely on Debian, it shouldn't be happening in the first place.