Scott Reynolds writes:

 > 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?

	Debian pkg tools use "preconditions" for these things. In the config
file for every binary package, youfind, among other information, on
which packages it depends. Yo have even information on the version of
the package. Some of the installing tools use that information for suggesting
the user to install the "preconditions" packages.

		Jesus.

-- 
Jesus M. Gonzalez Barahona         | addr.:  c/ Butarque, 15
Grupo de Sistemas y Comunicaciones |         28911 Leganes, Spain
Departamento de Informatica        | tel: +34 1 624 94 58
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid   | fax: +34 1 624 94 30
e-mail: jgb@gsyc.inf.uc3m.es       | www: http://www.gsyc.inf.uc3m.es/~jgb