Bug#115517: #115517: Latest draft of apt_preferences(5) man page

[Walter Tautz <wtautz@math.uwaterloo.ca>]

On 16 Oct 2002, Thomas Hood wrote:

> Here's my latest draft of the apt_preferences(5) man page.
> 
> Please read it over and report any errors!    // Thomas
> 
> <!-- -*- mode: sgml; mode: fold -*- -->
> <!doctype refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V3.1//EN" [
> 
> <!ENTITY % aptent SYSTEM "apt.ent">
> %aptent;
> 
> ]>
> 
> <refentry>
>  &apt-docinfo;
>  
>  <refmeta>
>    <refentrytitle>apt_preferences</>
>    <manvolnum>5</>
>  </refmeta>
>  
>  <!-- Man page title -->
>  <refnamediv>
>     <refname>apt_preferences</>
>     <refpurpose>Preference control file for APT</>
>  </refnamediv>
>  
>  <RefSect1><Title>Description</>
>    <para>
>    The APT preferences file <filename>/etc/apt/preferences</> controls
>    various aspects of the APT system. It is meant to be manipulable
>    either by user or by software. The file consists of a number of
>    records formed like those in dpkg status file: blocks of text
>    (paragraphs) separated by blank lines, each line of text consisting
>    of a tag followed by a colon, space and a string.
>    <para>
>    A main purpose of the preferences file is to let the user control
>    which version of a package will be selected for installation.
>  </RefSect1>
>  
>  <RefSect1><Title>Version Selection Policy</>
>    <para>
>    When multiple sources are named in <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</>,
>    APT maintains an internal list of all available versions of each
>    package, along with the release(s) to which each belongs and its
>    source.
>    <para>
>    In order to decide which version of a package to select, APT assigns a
>    priority to each available version and selects the version with the
>    highest priority.  If two versions have the same priority then the
>    later one is selected.  There are two exceptions to this, however.


The term later seems a trifle ambiguous, 
do you mean a package coming from a source.list entry that is later in the file
source.lists?


By the way you should work with the apt-howto guy and convert his how to a 
manpage that would then be distributed with the apt packages....I suppose 
consulting with the developer of apt would be good. Ideally the apt developer
should be writing the manpage....but I'm glad you've taken on the task.