Bug#746578: libpam-systemd to flip dependencies - proposal
On Sat, 1 Nov 2014 18:55:32 +0000 Ian Jackson <ijackson@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
> Rationale (Constitution 6.1(5)):
>
> 1. Currently libpam-systemd (which is pulled in by quite a few
> dependency chains) Depends on `systemd-sysv | systemd-shim'.
Here, you give the simplified dependency without the version constraint,
while below you give the full Depends with version constraint. Please
choose one or the other and use it consistently.
> 2. The effect of this is that installing certain leaf packages which
> depend on libpam-systemd can cause a user's init system to be
> switched to systemd, even on systems where a user has deliberately
> chosen not to use the default init system, and even when the switch
> is unnecessary.
Nit: s/certain leaf//; the packages depending on libpam-systemd are not
actually leaf packages, and in fact various other packages depend on
them.
> 3. Swappping the order of these dependencies would avoid that and has
> no harmful effect.
I would suggest expanding on what "no harmful effect" means here: "In
particular, on systems that already have systemd-sysv installed,
libpam-systemd will still not pull in systemd-shim, thus minimizing the
risk of breakage on systemd systems. However, on systems that
intentionally do not have systemd installed, the installation of
libpam-systemd will then prefer to pull in systemd-shim and keep the
installed init system rather than switching to systemd-sysv."
Stating that explicitly in the rationale, to set expectations, seems
preferable to a vague "no harmful effect" that does not fully make sense
without reading the full history in the bug. TC decisions should be
self-contained.
> Decision (Constitution 6.1(4)):
>
> 4. We therefore overrule the decision of the maintainer of
> libpam-systemd binary package. The Depends entry
> systemd-sysv | systemd-shim (>= 8-2)
> should be replaced by
> systemd-shim (>= 8-2) | systemd-sysv
I think this decision needs to explicitly state that it does not require
any particular version numbers in the versioned dependencies, only the
specific order. In particular, if libpam-systemd needs to increase its
versioned dependency on systemd-shim, or if it ever needs to add a
versioned dependency on systemd-sysv, that change should not violate
this TC decision.
> Release (Constitution 6.1(5)):
>
> 5. We request that the Release Team allow this change to into jessie.
> (This request should be conveyed to the Release Team, after the
> change is in unstable, by filing an unblock request in the usual
> way.)
Is this point necessary? The freeze has not yet occurred, and I don't
see any obvious reason why the TC needs to explicitly direct the release
team here.
- Josh Triplett
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