[Pkg-puppet-devel] Bug#513553: package type's ensure parameter does not support release name (may be debian specific)

[Matthew Palmer]

On Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 04:22:59PM -0700, Andrew Pollock wrote:
> forwarded 513553 http://projects.reductivelabs.com/issues/2406
> thanks
> 
> On Fri, Jan 30, 2009 at 02:44:20PM +1100, Jayen Ashar wrote:
> > Package: puppet
> > Version: 0.24.6-1
> > Severity: wishlist
> > 
> > I'd like to be able to specify something like:
> >       package {
> >         "openoffice.org": ensure => "etch-backports";
> >       }
> > 
> > This would call:
> > apt-get install openoffice.org/etch-backports
> > or
> > apt-get install -t etch-backports openoffice.org
> > 
> > instead of:
> > apt-get install openoffice.org=etch-backports
> > 
> > Can puppet check if the ensure parameter starts with a digit and decide
> > accordingly?

Just an aside: this isn't a reliable means of determining whether a string
is a version or a release, as there's no requirement in policy that version
numbers start with a digit (it's only a "should", not a "must").  Also,
someone could name their local repository "present", or Puppet could
introduce a new ensure value, and cause havoc all round.

- Matt