[FS#3299] busybox: Alternatives gets overwrited when busybox updates

[OpenWrt Bugs]

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FS#3299 - busybox: Alternatives gets overwrited when busybox updates
User who did this - Hannu Nyman (hnyman)

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> If mwan3 really needs functionality not provided by busybox IP, it should not depend on the abstract `ip` but on something like `ip-full` instead.

Note that that argument about "ip" may partially be a fallout of the (three years old) change, where busybox started to provide "ip". Earlier "ip" provide was just for ip-tiny, ip-full, but not busybox.

In the forum discussion also "sort" and adblock has been mentioned as problematic. So the problem is not related just to "ip" app.

As far as I understand, the "alternatives" provides a precedence definition mechanism, which should lead to the more preferred app getting precendence.

Possibly there is bad handling of "alternatives" precedence with "opkg upgrade" (which command I dislike in any case...).

I feel that trying to provide full "upgrade anything" capability is contrdictory to the aim of keeping OpenWrt and opkg simple, but sadly there seems to be more and more people who try to upgrade anything. (Busybox is roughly the most dangerous item to be upgraded, as it is so core.)

One possible generic solution might be the busybox build config option "always install to /sbin, /bin and avoid /usr". That should keep the busybox stuff late on the path, preventing their usage if there is a better app typically in /usr, earlier in the path.

https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/blob/master/package/utils/busybox/config/Config.in#L194


config BUSYBOX_CONFIG_INSTALL_NO_USR
	bool "Don't use /usr"
	default BUSYBOX_DEFAULT_INSTALL_NO_USR
	help
	Disable use of /usr. "busybox --install" and "make install"
	will install applets only to /bin and /sbin,
	never to /usr/bin or /usr/sbin.


I wonder if that has ever been evaluated by OpenWrt?

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More information can be found at the following URL:
https://bugs.openwrt.org/index.php?do=details&task_id=3299#comment8688

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