I've downloaded rpms to upgrade SuSE 8.2 packages to a higher level than those that are on the install cds. When d/l completed, apt gave me this:

Executing RPM (-Uvh)...
file /opt/kde3/include/img_canvas.h from install of kdegraphics3-devel-3.3.2-3 conflicts with file from package kdegraphics3-scan-3.1.1-5
file /opt/kde3/include/kscandevice.h from install of kdegraphics3-devel-3.3.2-3 conflicts with file from package kdegraphics3-scan-3.1.1-5
file /opt/kde3/include/kscanoption.h from install of kdegraphics3-devel-3.3.2-3 conflicts with file from package kdegraphics3-scan-3.1.1-5
file /opt/kde3/include/scanparams.h from install of kdegraphics3-devel-3.3.2-3 conflicts with file from package kdegraphics3-scan-3.1.1-5
E: Sub-process /bin/rpm returned an error code (6)

And there the upgrade ended.

Since I'm upgrading from kde 3.1 to kde 3.3, it seems that there was some package rearrangement in the later releases.
Question: since this is a package upgrade, is it safe to use the force option to continue? If I continue, will it break SuSE?

I've burned the d/ls to cd, and can upgrade from there. I've also made a backup of my system which I can restore if this fails. I'm just wondering, before I venture further into this, what's likely to happen.

It is always better to solve the conflict than to apply force

It seems to me as if you still have kdegraphics3-scan-3.1.1-5 installed, while your base system is KDE 3.3. I am not familiar with APT, but maybe it just 'overlooked' this file during upgarde. In my eyes, the easiest solution would be to bring kdegraphics3-scan to version 3.3.

Thanks, abisco00. That pointed me in the right direction. When I checked the files I've downloaded, there were indeed missing files (in the repository, but not in my download). I then checked /etc/apt/sources.list, and found my error. Hopefully, I've corrected it. Re-running apt-get update and upgrade now.