Consider these packages
	Name: A
and
	Name: B
	Obsoletes: A

There's an implicit assumption that B is installed after A.

So this sequence Does The Right Thing
	rpm -Uvh A*.rpm
	rpm -Uvh B*.rpm
while if the {A,B} install order is reversed, or both A and B are  
installed together,
then rpm Does The Wrong Thing.

There are (at least) two pieces to "fix":

1) apply Obsoletes: dependencies against the current transaction  
elements,
eliminating any elements that match the Obsoletes: with a warning.

2) make Obsoletes: persistent in an rpmdb, generating an Obsoletename  
table,
perhaps adding a --whatobsoletes query option. Hmm --whatconflicts is  
likely
needed too, not hard, just tedious. time to think a bit ...

Bugs R us today, todo++.

73 de Jeff