[php-maint] Bug#379009: why does libapache2-mod-php5 conflict with libapache2-mod-php4

[Marc Haber]

Package: libapache2-mod-php5
Severity: minor

Hi,

libapache2-mod-php4 conflicts with libapache2-mod-php5. I don't see
any compelling reason for this conflicts. Both packages don't share
common file names, and the problem that might arise if both php
modules are loaded at once can be fixed with trivial scripting in the
postinst of php4 and php5: Just don't enable the own module if the
other one is already enabled.

The changelog entry:

  * Bring back some concflicts that went missing (libapache-mod-php5 needs
    to conflict with libapache-mod-php4 and older versions of php4, while
    the two libapache2-mod-php[45] modules also need to conflict).

doesn't answer the question why the conflict is actually needed. 

I'm willing to deliver patches to php4 and php5 which implement the
checks outlines above.

Greetings
Marc

-- System Information:
Debian Release: testing/unstable
  APT prefers unstable
  APT policy: (500, 'unstable'), (500, 'stable')
Architecture: i386 (i686)
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Kernel: Linux 2.6.17.6-zgsrv
Locale: LANG=C, LC_CTYPE=de_DE (charmap=ISO-8859-1)