Replaces
Format
| Fields with a List of Dependencies | ||
| Dependencies | Conflicts | Suggestions |
| Build-Depends | Build-Conflicts | Enhances |
| Build-Depends-Arch | Build-Conflicts-Arch | Provides |
| Build-Depends-Indep | Build-Conflicts-Indep | Recommends |
| Built-Using | Replaces | |
| Depends | Conflicts | Suggests |
| Pre-Depends | Breaks | |
| Ubuntu-Depends | ||
The Replaces field is used to allow an upgrade from one package to another without having to change anything else.
This is used when a package becomes obsolete (or not maintained) and a new package is created as a replacement. That new package should offer all the same capabilities as the old package if it is to work as a full replacement although it may invalidate some packages that were depending of the old package. The result is that the user has to remove those packages and find new equivalents.
The main concept of the Replaces field is to allow for an upgrade without having to uninstall all the depending packages and reinstalling them later. Otherwise it is not a field that's absolutely necessary.
The Replaces accepts a list of packages using the exact same syntax as the Depends field. When more than one package is specified, all those packages get replaced (i.e. removed once this new package was successfully installed.)
