[php-maint] the package labelled libapache-mod-php4 (4:4.3.10-16) actually provides 4.3.10-16

[Adam Conrad]

Greg McAvoy-Jensen wrote:
> I'm new at Debian, so maybe it's me, but when I
> download the package labelled libapache-mod-php4
> (4:4.3.10-16), it actually provides 4.3.10-16.

Yes, this is normal.  The bit before the colon (in this case, '4') is
called an "epoch", and is used internally by dpkg to work around
versioning issues, such as making sure that 4.3.10-1 is larger than
4.3.10rc2-1.  Obviously, it isn't, but 4:4.3.10-1 is higher than
3:4.3.10rc2-1.  php4 has managed to pick up an epoch in the past, once
by accident, and a couple of times on purpose.  If you check the
changelog, you can spot when. :)

... Adam