This one time, at band camp, Michael Spang said: > - Some think it should be a 'weak-depends: ' -- the package has some > functionality without the package, though the package isn't absouletly > required (eg. dynamically linked libraries) to run/use it. > - Some think it should be a 'strongly-suggests: ' -- the package's > functionality can be better utilized / is enhanced somehow by the package > - Some probably even think other things I always thought Recommends was essentially a field that meant that this dependancy should really be satisfied somehow for the package to work fully, but it might not be necessary to have it on the same host in all cases, or there are easily imaginable cases where you might not want it. For instance, a LAMP app might Recommend an SQL backend - it absolutely needs one to function, but it does not need to be on this machine. Or in the second case, many apps have a full range of functionality, but can be useful with a more limited set. xmms might fall into this category - It recommends libraries for various sound and output formats that you might not need, but if you would like to experience the full range of it's capabilities, should really be installed. It's just that some machines don't need alsa libraries, and may not want extra libraries for ogg/vorbis or whatever else. > I favor the 'weak-depends: ' interpretation because it allows > _flexibility_, dpkg won't complain if it's not installed but programs > like aptitude will install it by default because its almost always > wanted. We all love flexibility, right? Exactly. > It seems to be worded quite clearly in the policy manual after all. > Sounds like 'weak-depends' or the 'technical interpretation' to me. If > the program doesn't crash and burn without it, I fancy it belongs in > recommends: and not depends:. If the program is generally useful without > it, it belongs in suggests: not recommends:. > > Considering how blatantly it is worded here, I don't think there's room > for [the 'social'] interpretation. Recommends: _is_ a dependency, just > not an absolute one. I always thought so, at least if you want the program to work fully. -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ,''`. Stephen Gran | | : :' : sgran@debian.org | | `. `' Debian user, admin, and developer | | `- http://www.debian.org | -----------------------------------------------------------------
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