How to remember channel aliases ?

[Mikus Grinbergs]

On Wed, 1 Feb 2006 00:42:55 -0200 Gustavo Niemeyer <gustavo at niemeyer.net> wrote:
> > Running smart --gui on SuSE 10.0.  A new version of wine showed
> > up in the SuSE-supplied depositories.  I had already upgraded
> > wine from the wine depository, so I wanted to EXCLUDE the
> > SuSE-supplied wine from the smart 'Upgrade All Packages".
> >
> > Went to Edit -> Priorities -> New.  It asked me to type in
> > the Channel Alias.  Well, I didn't remember what the channel
> [...]
>
> Rather than going there, try to right-click on the package and
> click on "Priority".  Bingo!  You have a nice screen with
> full blown channel names and the current priority settings for
> that package.

Thanks.  I'll remember that next time.


Some comments on that screen:

 -  Though I spent some time looking every place I know of, I did not
    find documentation giving examples of the exact screens, fields,
    and values to use to instruct smart to prioritize package fetch.

 -  The screen you describe has a line for EVERY repository (channel)
    that has been defined for smart.  Now I have to GUESS which lines
    to change the priority on.  [Might the 'java' repository supply a
    version of the 'wine' package?]   This is confusing.

 -  This screen lists the 'Title' of the channel, rather than the
    'Alias' of the channel.  Since several SuSE-supplied repositories
    all have the same 'Title' in their channel_files (so packages from
    those repositories are "grouped" together in the package lists),
    it is not clear from this screen exactly WHICH depository the
    line represents.  [My original concern was that on the edit screen
    I had to type in the channel alias.  Here I don't have to type,
    but I *do* have to guess which line represents a particular alias.]
    Again, confusing.

 -  When I was originally "trying out" smart, I got the impression
    (since it listed all the channels) that this screen could be used
    to prioritize one CHANNEL (for all its packages) over another.
    Now I see it merely prioritizes sources for one PACKAGE at a time.

    Is there a way to tell smart to by default prefer __every__ package
    from, say, the "packman" CHANNEL over the package from a "SuSE"
    channel ?


Thanks for your help,  mikus