Jeremy C. Reed [Thu, Jun 26, 2003 at 12:49:48PM -0700]:
[...]
> > Can pkgsrc handle dependencies from roles, like APT does? E.g. a
> > package might depend from mail-transport-agent, which isn't an actual
> > package, but something like a role, and any of the packages like exim,
> > sendmail, postfix, qmail a.s.o. can play that role.
> 
> I'd like that to be implemented.

It should be a piece of cake to implement such functionality: you could
create a meta-package pkgsrc/mail/mail-transport-agent which would install
a MTA you declared in /etc/mk.conf (or install ,,exim'' by default) - but
the question is: what for? Are NetBSD users really so brain-dead, that
pkgsrc should install a MTA (not to mention default NetBSD MTA), when they
want to install procmail?

Debian package maintainers tend to divide stuff like XFree86 or KDE to
smaller pieces. You can install konqueror and rxvt with dependencies
(kdelibs, x11libs) - but you don't have to install xserver. It's a really
good thing, especially if you want to run Debian on an old hardware and disk
space really matters.

NetBSD comes with a default mail-transport-agent; NetBSD's XFree86 is a kind
of monolith, when compared to Debian.

Really good things about Debian packages are alternatives and it's menu
system. If you install a window manager on Debian, the default WM
configurations files don't launch xterm, rxvt, eterm or konsole - they
launch x-terminal-emulator (which is a symlink, handled by
update-alternatives). I'd like to see than in pkgsrc. 

-- 
Micha³ Pasternak :: http://pasternak.w.lub.pl
 "You can't hide from the flipside" - Moloko