Automatic packages (was Re: "super" pkgs)
Hi.
Some people mentioned last month that it would be nice to have the
automatic removal of automatically selected packages (i.e., packages
selected by dselect or apt in order to satisfy dependencies) as it
would fit in nicely with meta-packages implemented using (otherwise
empty) .debs with dependencies.
The simplest (ha ha) solution I can think of is to add a new state to
the Install/Purge/Remove item. Currently my status file includes:
Package: libpng0g
Status: install ok installed
However, I doubt I went looking for this package, some other one must
depend on it. I would suggest that this should read:
Status: automatic ok installed
instead.
If all pkgs that depend on this are removed then dpkg should removes
it as well (dpkg --remove --pending, or apt all by itself), leaving:
Status: automatic ok not-installed
or
Status: automatic ok config-files
when the package has remaining configuration.
So "automatic" would mean either "install" or "deinstall" according to
whether or not a packages dependencies (pre-depends and conflicts?)
are satisfied.
The admin should be able to change package statuses to "a"[utomatic]
(like "+", "-", and "_") at the press of a key within dselect.
However, most changes *into* the "automatic" state would be performed by
dselect (when it brings up the dependency resolution screen) or by apt.
How does this sound? Too much of a change to dpkg? Too much complexity
for the newbie dselector? Not enough benefit? Exactly what test is to
be performed to determine whether "automatic" means "install" or
"deinstall"? Bearing in mind the huge number of packages available
now, wouldn't it be nice to have all lib packages set to automatic?
Of course, it also has to work with chains of dependencies.
Giuliano Procida.
ps It would also annoy people who type: dpkg -l | grep ^ii :-)
--
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