Solving package dependencies: from EDOS to Mancoosi

Mancoosi (Managing the Complexity of the Open Source Infrastructure) is an ongoing research project funded by the European Union for addressing some of the challenges related to the “upgrade problem” of interdependent software components of which Debian packages are prototypical examples. Mancoosi is the natural continuation of the EDOS project which has already contributed tools for distribution-wide quality assurance in Debian and other GNU/Linux distributions. The consortium behind the project consists of several European public and private research institutions as well as some commercial GNU/Linux distributions from Europe and South America. Debian is represented by a small group of Debian Developers who are working in the ranks of the involved universities to drive and integrate back achievements into Debian. This paper presents relevant results from EDOS in dependency management and gives an overview of the Mancoosi project and its objectives, with a particular focus on the prospective benefits for Debian.