Description of problem: The Release: number in dovecot is lower in FC3 than the FC2 errata. This is true of the recently pushed fc3 dovecot update as well. Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): FC2 Update: dovecot-0.99.13-4.FC2.i386.rpm FC3 Update: dovecot-0.99.13-3.FC3.i386.rpm If the Release: number was more like: dovecot-0.99.13-FC2.4.i386.rpm dovecot-0.99.13-FC3.3.i386.rpm this type of issue could be avoided...
Comparing rpm's between distributions is not supported. FC2 and FC3 are two independent distributions. Within their own distribution the rpm's colate correctly. As a side note, your suggestion of prepending the distribution in the release field as opposed to appending it only works in in a subset of cases and is not a general solution. Why? Because if the distribution component, e.g. FCn were anything other than FCn it may not sort correctly, this is just one of several reasons why you can't compare rpms between distributions) Another reason why its a bad idea to compare rpm between distributions is the dependency issue with other components, and finally different distributions can organize files and directories differently mean you may have installation or configuration errors.