many php pear packages don't show up in "pear list"

[Aaron]

Binary package hint: php-db

Ubuntu version: gutsy gibbon

_Steps to reproduce_

1) install php-db:
        sudo apt-get install php-db
2) verify that php now has a "DB" folder:
        ls -l /usr/share/php
3) check that pear knows a new pear package was installed:
        pear list
4) Notice that while /usr/share/php has a "DB" folder, pear does not list "DB" as a package.

_Comments_

Compare this behavior to php-date. Note that php-date's installation will show up in the "pear list". Looking closely at the packages reveals that while php-date installs files in /usr/share/php/.registry (which appears to be how pear knows what is installed), php-db does NOT.

I have noticed this behavior in several other pear packages as well, such as php-config and php-xml-parser. I haven't tested other pear packages, but very likely this is a common problem. All the pear packages should be systematically checked to see whether they integrate properly with pear.

[Thijs Kinkhorst (kink)]

In Debian we are working on this as much as we can. However, note that pear is a package manager just like apt is, so it's not trivial to make both work with both at the same time. We may find a satisfying solution to that but it's a more general problem and not related to php-db specifically.