>Number:         18966
>Category:       pkg
>Synopsis:       binary packages have no idea what architecture they are for.
>Confidential:   no
>Severity:       serious
>Priority:       high
>Responsible:    pkg-manager
>State:          open
>Class:          change-request
>Submitter-Id:   net
>Arrival-Date:   Fri Nov 08 00:18:00 PST 2002
>Closed-Date:
>Last-Modified:
>Originator:     matthew green
>Release:        NetBSD 1.6I
>Organization:
people's front against (bozotic) www (softwar foundation)
>Environment:
	
	
System: NetBSD what-time-is-love.eterna.com.au 1.6I NetBSD 1.6I (_what_) #75: Sat Oct 5 13:53:33 EST 2002 mrg@what-time-is-love.eterna.com.au:/var/_what_ macppc
Architecture: powerpc
Machine: macppc
>Description:

	binary packages have two problems related to architecture:

		- the names don't include the architecture.  i'm sure
		that the argument is that they belong in "<arch>/All"
		but when you download a single package and a week later
		you don't know what architecture it's for...

		- the package system itself seems to be completely
		ignorant of architecture a package is for.  this means
		that you can pkg_add a binary package for a different
		architecture.  it could be argued that this is a feature
		that makes pkg_add useful for diskless clients(*).  i
		would agree, but i would also argue that the *default*
		pkg_add should not allow packages for a different
		architecture be install.  a flag should be required.


(*) to be honest, pkg_add's support for diskless clients appears to
be pretty poor.  the "-p prefix" flag only applies to the first "@cwd"
and thus it can't really be used as "-p /export/root/client/usr/pkg",
one really needs to use it with chroot.

>How-To-Repeat:

	install a binary package for the wrong architecture and be
	puzzled why the package doesn't work.

>Fix:

	i suggest two changes:

		- binary package names are changed to include the
		$MACHINE_ARCH that these binaries are for.

		- binary packages are enhanced to include the
		$MACHINE_ARCH (+MACHINE_ARCH file?) and pkg_add will
		only allow installing packages for a different
		MACHINE_ARCH if given a (new?) "force" flag.
>Release-Note:
>Audit-Trail:
>Unformatted: