[csw-maintainers] Problem with "alternatives" on updates

[Dagobert Michelsen]

Hi,

I have tested alternatives on CSWautomake to switch
automake/aclocal between the included versions
1.6 to 1.11. The problem is that if I manually select
a version (like 1.10) and then try to upgrade the
package the selection is not preserved. On
package deinstallation the choices are removed
from the alternatives system, and if the manually
selected choice is removed the group switches back
to another choice.

When the new package then installs the new choices
the previous manual selection is lost. If I would
just preserve the link in /etc/opt/csw the target
may or may not exist in the new package. There
should be something like "get me the existing
manual config" and "re-apply this manual config".

Could please some Linux-freak look at how
Debian/RedHat handle this? I guess we need
update-hook-scripts to handle this cleanly.


Best regards

   -- Dago