[Yum] Feature request(s)

[Jeremy Katz]

On Tue, 2003-10-07 at 17:28, Christopher C. Weis wrote:
> 2) The ability to download, but not install, RPMs, using Yum.

To throw my $0.02 out there for the heck of it.  

I think this is an option that has very little use.  FTP clients, web
browsers, and mirroring programs all exist for a reason.  I have yet to
see a convincingly good reason as to why a package updater should
replicate this functionality.

I've heard a few reasons, and all of them seem ... questionable, at
least to me.  Here's the sample of the ones I remember:
1) "I want to evaluate the package before I install it" -- I fail to see
how having a binary package can help with that.  Downloading the src.rpm
and diffing the contents, sure.  But not the binary RPM.  Changelogs
don't nearly have the information you want here.
2) "I want to test it on another box first" -- Why not use yum on the
other box and download it and test it there.  
3) "I don't trust the code which installs packages" -- Then stop using
it.
4) "Other programs that update packages have it" -- Some of them have
also corrupted rpmdbs in the past, that doesn't mean it's a good idea ;)

Cheers,

Jeremy