how to effect "Conflicts: %{name}-foo != %{version}-%{release}"

[Brian J. Murrell]

Let's say I am repackaging an RPM (called foo) supplied by my distro
vendor which has the following packages:

foo-ui
foo-tools

and my repackaging is to separate out foo-tools into foo-tools and
foo-devel.  First I bump the Release: ever so minor by just tacking a
".01" onto the end of it so that my package will "upgrade" the vendor
package but the next vendor package should upgrade mine (by which time,
with any luck, they have incorporated my -devel packing patch).

In my new foo-devel subpackage I put:

  %package   devel
  Summary:   devel for foo
  Group:     ...

  %description python
  provides devel bits

And add a %files for foo-devel and change the %files for foo-tools to
remove the files I put into foo-devel.

But I want to provide a smooth downgrade path to vendor's original
package, so I want to have the vendor's foo-tools remove my foo-devel.
The solution that came to mind immediately was to put a:

Conflicts: %{name}-tools != %{version}-%{release}

into my foo-devel package's specification.  That way, when any other
version of foo-tools installs, it will conflict with my packages
foo-devel and (I think/hope) remove it.

But of course "!=" is not a legal operator.

How else can I achieve my goal though?  It goes without say that I
cannot do anything with the vendor's release of the foo-* packages since
that toothpaste is already out of the tube.

Cheers,
b.

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 262 bytes
Desc: OpenPGP digital signature
URL: <http://lists.rpm.org/pipermail/rpm-list/attachments/20120131/56538c8f/attachment.asc>