* Richard W.M. Jones:
 I'm really unclear even after reading the dpkg-divert man page
what
 dpkg-divert does. Is it designed so that package B can move package
 A's files around? 
If the local administrator or package B's preinst script have registered
a diversion for one of package A's files, they an alternative
implementation for that file -- or a wrapper script in the case of
executables. Renaming of the file takes effect immediately if
dpkg-divert is called with --rename or when package A is upgraded.
(I use this feature for a local modification to my build chroots that
calls dpkg using the eatmydata wrapper.)
I think that the description in
https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ap-pkg-diversions.html is
better than the manpage.
 Is it possible for the dpkg supermin plugin to simply change ft_path
 when it detects that the original file has been diverted? 
Wouldn't the diverted filename then be used in the ext2 or chroot
building code?
Cheers,
-Hilko