Re: mawk is a required package but I have replaced it with gawk

[Dan Jacobson <jidanni@jidanni.org>]

> I was thinking that to have a "valid" debian system, all "required"
> packages must be installed.

< That's true for essential package, but required != essential.

/usr/share/doc/debian/FAQ/debian-faq.en.txt.gz:
6.7. What is a _Required_, _Important_, _Standard_, _Optional_, or _Extra_
package?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Each Debian package is assigned a _priority_ by the distribution
     maintainers, as an aid to the package management system.  The
     priorities are:

        * _Required_: packages that are necessary for the proper
          functioning of the system.

          This includes all tools that are necessary to repair system
          defects.  You must not remove these packages or your system may
          become totally broken and you may probably not even be able to
          use dpkg to put things back.

I will file a bug to get essential added to this file. It is mentioned
in debian-policy but not here.

Anyway, can't blame some users for getting the impression that if one
doesn't accept mawk, their system will be in serious shape, whereas it
really should be: if one has no version of awk at all, their system
will be in serious shape.