Please do not unblock gnome-meta just yet
As you may be aware, the TC recently overruled the maintainers of the
gnome-core metapackage, deciding that the dependency from gnome-core
to network-manager should be weakened from Depends to Recommends.
(The full TC decision is reproduced below.)
In response to this the maintainers have uploaded a new version of
meta-gnome in which the gnome-core package Recommends
network-manager-gnome, as required. However, additionally, they have
reintroduced a dependency from gnome to network-manager-gnome, as
Depends. See the changes info, also below.
The Release Team should be aware that our request to unblock the
update to meta-gnome implementing the TC decision does not extend to
this latter change to meta-gnome.
I am going to try to get the TC to pass another resolution
specifically overruling this further decision by the gnome-core
maintainers.
Ian.
Whereas:
1. The gnome-core metapackage is intended to reflect the core of the
GNOME desktop environment: the basic tools and subsystems that
together constitute GNOME. The gnome metapackage is intended to
reflect the broader desktop environment, including extra components
and applications.
2. network-manager is the GNOME network control system, and is
recommended for most GNOME users. Some Debian GNOME users don't like
some of network-manager's behavior and prefer to instead use other
tools, either basic ifupdown or other frameworks such as wicd.
3. In squeeze, the gnome metapackage lists network-manager in Recommends
but not Depends. In wheezy, currently, network-manager has moved from
gnome to gnome-core, and from Recommends to Depends. This represents
a substantially increased insistance that users of the GNOME
metapackages have network-manager installed; specifically, there is no
longer any way to install any but the most minimal GNOME metapackage
(gnome-session) without installing network-manager, and users who have
gnome or gnome-core installed but have removed or never installed
network-manager will have network-manager installed during an upgrade
from squeeze.
4. For most applications and components, the only drawback of this would
be some additional disk space usage, since the application, despite
being installed, wouldn't need to be used. However, network-manager
assumes that, if it is installed, it should attempt to manage the
system's network configuration. It attempts to avoid overriding local
manual configuration, but it isn't able to detect all cases where the
user is using some other component or system to manage networking.
The user has to take separate, explicit (and somewhat unusual for the
average user) action to disable network-manager after it has been
installed.
5. The Technical Committee believes that this will cause undesireable
behavior for upgrades from squeeze, and (of somewhat lesser
importance) will make it more difficult than necessary for GNOME users
to swap network management components, something for which there
appears to be noticable demand. We therefore believe that
network-manager should be moved to Recommends in gnome-core.
6. Please note that this is not a general statement about GNOME
components. It is very specific to network-manager because all of the
following apply:
(i) The package takes action automatically because it is installed,
rather than being a component that can either be run or not at the
user's choice.
(ii) The package has historically been recommended rather than listed
as a dependency, so existing Debian users are used to that
behavior and will expect it to be preserved during upgrades.
(ii) There is both demonstrable, intentional widespread replacement of
that package by Debian GNOME users and no significant loss of
unrelated GNOME desktop functionality by replacing it with a
different component.
If any of these points did not apply, the situation would be
significantly different.
Therefore:
7. The Technical Committee overrules the decision of the gnome-core
metapackage maintainers. The dependency from gnome-core to
network-manager-gnome should be downgraded to Recommends.
8. The Technical Committee requests that the Release Managers unblock
the update to implement this decision, so that this change may be
released in wheezy.
Format: 1.8
Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2012 11:58:56 +0200
Source: meta-gnome3
Binary: gnome-core gnome gnome-desktop-environment gnome-platform-devel gnome-core-devel gnome-devel gnome-dbg gnome-api-docs
Architecture: source all amd64
Version: 1:3.4+2
Distribution: unstable
Urgency: low
Maintainer: Debian GNOME Maintainers <pkg-gnome-maintainers@lists.alioth.debian.org>
Changed-By: Josselin Mouette <joss@debian.org>
Description:
gnome - Full GNOME Desktop Environment, with extra components
gnome-api-docs - API reference documentation for the GNOME libraries
gnome-core - GNOME Desktop Environment -- essential components
gnome-core-devel - GNOME Desktop Environment -- development components
gnome-dbg - debugging symbols for the GNOME desktop environment
gnome-desktop-environment - The GNOME Desktop Environment - transitional package
gnome-devel - GNOME Desktop Environment -- development tools
gnome-platform-devel - GNOME development platform
Closes: 645656 681757
Changes:
meta-gnome3 (1:3.4+2) unstable; urgency=low
.
* Depend on g-tweak-tool, it is too useful to be left out.
* Update epochs on a pair of dependencies.
* Add architecture tweaks for unavailable packages: rygel, aisleriot,
seed. Closes: #681757.
* Move network-manager dependency to gnome. Only recommend it in
gnome-core. This should be in compliance with the Crusade.
Closes: #645656.
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