Re: If *-module depends on *-utils, should *-source recommend it?

["Michael K. Edwards" <m.k.edwards@gmail.com>]

What would be the impact on (c)debootstrap of changing the operation
of dpkg?  I haven't looked at the exact sequence in a while, but IIRC
those partially-installed states have valid uses in a debootstrap run.
 For instance, an unconfigured package may not be ready for normal
use, but may get some files into the right places so that another
package installation can complete, and then another run of dpkg can
fix the first package.

I think I'm of the "it's a low-level tool, you can shoot yourself in
the foot if you insist on it" school.  That's what the --force-* flags
are there for -- knowingly, carefully, shooting yourself in the foot
because that's where the anaconda has started to eat you.  However,
there might be a case for defaulting to peeking inside the new package
to check dependencies before unpacking.  One could then add a new
--force-unpack flag to get the current behavior in scenarios like
debootstrap.

Cheers,
- Michael