(debian-policy.info)Packages which break other packages - Breaks

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7.3 Packages which break other packages - ‘Breaks’
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When one binary package declares that it breaks another, ‘dpkg’ will
refuse to allow the package which declares ‘Breaks’ to be unpacked
unless the broken package is deconfigured first, and it will refuse to
allow the broken package to be reconfigured.

A package will not be regarded as causing breakage merely because its
configuration files are still installed; it must be at least
“Half-Installed”.

A special exception is made for packages which declare that they break
their own package name or a virtual package which they provide (see
below): this does not count as a real breakage.

Normally a ‘Breaks’ entry will have an “earlier than” version clause;
such a ‘Breaks’ is introduced in the version of an (implicit or
explicit) dependency which violates an assumption or reveals a bug in
earlier versions of the broken package, or which takes over a file from
earlier versions of the package named in ‘Breaks’.  This use of ‘Breaks’
will inform higher-level package management tools that the broken
package must be upgraded before the new one.

If the breaking package also overwrites some files from the older
package, it should use ‘Replaces’ to ensure this goes smoothly.  See
Note: Overwriting files and replacing packages - Replaces. for a
full discussion of taking over files from other packages, including how
to use ‘Breaks’ in those cases.

Many of the cases where ‘Breaks’ should be used were previously handled
with ‘Conflicts’ because ‘Breaks’ did not yet exist.  Many ‘Conflicts’
fields should now be ‘Breaks’.  See Note: Conflicting binary packages -
Conflicts. for more information about the differences.