Documentation< Previous | Contents | Next >
Replacing Files: The Replaces Field
The Replaces field indicates that the package contains files that are also present in another pack- age, but that the package is legitimately entitled to replace them. Without this specification, dpkg fails, stating that it cannot overwrite the files of another package (technically, it is possible to force it to do so with the --force-overwrite option, but that is not considered standard operation). This allows identification of potential problems and requires the maintainer to study the matter prior to choosing whether to add such a field.
The use of this field is justified when package names change or when a package is included in another. This also happens when the maintainer decides to distribute files differently among various binary packages produced from the same source package: a replaced file no longer belongs to the old package, but only to the new one.
If all of the files in an installed package have been replaced, the package is considered to be re- moved. Finally, this field also encourages dpkg to remove the replaced package where there is a conflict.