about making rpm
 

Hi,

Can rpm be made in such a way that it just overwrites those files that are older than the ones provided in the rpm?

By default, you would get a file conflicting error message.

thanks.

oldbee

well, if you upgrade the rpm, then it will do that, but if you force an install, there' no guarentee it'll work, use 'rpm -Uv file.rpm'

My understanding is that -U will just do an uninstall and install. It will not check the file dates for you - see man rpm.

Plus, I have got a more complicated problem. The files that are in conflicting are not necessarily installed by the same software (rpm).
It is like two or more software (rpm packages) all packed a specific shared lib in them - but different versions probably. The desired result (if rpm can handle) would be to keep the latest shared lib...

Maybe there is no such support in RPM yet. On windows, the user always get a prompt when installing a new software:
something like:
A newer xxx.DLL already exists in your system. Replace?