[Rpm-announce] RPM 4.9.0 alpha available

[Panu Matilainen]

We're closing in on another major RPM release, and compared to 4.7 and 4.8 
the number of changes is so much bigger that we're starting with an alpha 
release instead of going directly to beta, just in case.

Some of the bigger changes include:
- Obsoletes are now handled more like conflicts: rpm now refuses to
  install a package which is obsoleted by an installed package.
- Package scriptlets can now be run-time macro-expanded
- The built-in dependency generator has been largely rewritten and
  is now modular, supporting arbitrary number of pluggable file 
  types and dependency generators, and allows filtering and overriding
  everything from specs without having to resort to the external
  dependency generator. Until "official" documentation gets written, some 
  information and examples on it can be found at
  http://laiskiainen.org/blog/?p=35
- Several unused/useless database indexes have been dropped, making all 
  database operations (including installs etc) considerably faster.
- SELinux policy packaging integrated to rpmbuild
- Experimental support for "collections", original RFC description here:
  http://lists.rpm.org/pipermail/rpm-maint/2010-April/002697.html

One of the main drivers to start with an alpha release is to enable early 
testing of the new dependency generator system. While the basic design is 
not expected to change radically at this point, some further enhancements 
to help/fix common problem issues are planned before the final release, 
but we would like feedback from "the real-world packaging department" at 
this point.

While the number of API changes is large and absolutely requires soname 
bumps to all rpm's libraries, the "core" API is mostly unchanged allowing 
many/most API users linked against rpm 4.8 to run as-is. So to make it 
easier to test, the library versions have not been bumped in this alpha 
release. Once we get to beta(s), the versions will (of course) be bumped 
to match reality.

Further details, including compatibility notes and download information 
can be found in the draft release notes at 
http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.0

On behalf of the rpm-team,

	- Panu -