On Thu, 20 Mar 1997, Jason Thorpe wrote:

> On Thu, 20 Mar 1997 18:11:21 -0600 (CST) 
>  Scott Reynolds <scottr@Plexus.COM> wrote:
> 
>  > Are there uninstaller tools that will only remove a file if there are no
>  > remaining references to it?
> 
> ...they do have an uninstaller... I dunno what you mean by "no remaining
> references", tho...

It's quite conceivable, at least to me, that two disjoint `packages' would
rely on a common piece; when this happens, the same `vendor' has usually
provided both, and includes a single piece of shared code and/or data that
is used by both packages.  Should an unsuspecting admin delete one
package, the other may be somewhat (or entirely) crippled.

While I can't think of any direct examples in the UN*X software world off
the top of my head (though I can imagine some GNU tools might), there are
abundant examples in the Win* world, so one can hardly discount the
possibility.

So, to rephrase, if the same file shows up in two different packages'
+CONTENTS lists, is the uninstaller software smart enough to leave files
that are potentially still being used by a different package?

--scott