[R-sig-Debian] packages in cran2deb and Debian

[Ross Boylan]

Some packages are available in cran2deb and Debian.  After adding
cran2deb to my sources.list it seems the cran2deb ones are favored
because X.Y-ZcranN is "more recent" than X.Y-Z.

In the case of r-cran-rmpi the effect of this was to cause aptitude to
want to uninstall all my mpi stuff.  Apparently the automatically
generated package doesn't have mpi as a dependency.

I just put a hold on the existing version, and I suppose I could fiddle
with apt preferences.

Do people have any general advice about how to handle this situation?

There probably is no one rule for what to do.  The official packages are
more carefully done, but the automatic packages may be more recent.  At
least if they are the same version, I  presume the official ones are
preferable.  But I don't know of a good way of making such a rule
automatic.

Actually, I'm a bit surprised that official Debian packages are also in
cran2deb.

Thanks.
Ross Boylan