mis-named packages in db?

[Paul Howarth]

Claude Jones wrote:
> In doing a yum update since Saturday, I keep getting:
> 
> --> Running transaction check
> --> Processing Dependency: koffice = 4:1.4.1-0.1.fc4.kde for package: 
> koffice-devel
> --> Finished Dependency Resolution
> Error: Missing Dependency: koffice = 4:1.4.1-0.1.fc4.kde is needed by package 
> koffice-devel
> [root at viewridgeproductions cj]# rpm -qa | grep koffice
> koffice-devel-1.4.1-0.1.fc4.kde
> koffice-1.4.1-0.1.fc4.kde
> 
> The packages yum is looking for begin with the number '4', but the ones I've 
> got installed begin with a '1' - they are otherwise the same package number - 
> this looks like an error, no? If so, how can I fix it. Before discovering 
> this, I'd already run yum clean all and rpm --rebuild
> 
> How would such an error, it that's what it is, occur? 

The "4:" is an Epoch number. Epochs are generally used in RPM packages 
where the upstream version numbering scheme has changed, or if version 
numbers have been used that rpm thinks are "out of order". Any package 
with a higher epoch number is seen by rpm as "later" than a package with 
a lower epoch number no matter what the version/release numbers of the 
packages are.

Try this:
$ rpm -qa --qf '%{EPOCH}:%{NAME}-%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}.%{ARCH}\n' koffice\*

It appears that one of your repos has an epoch 4 koffice-devel but no 
epoch 4 koffice to go with it.

Paul.