Re: Packages to install be default for Stretch
Paul Wise wrote:
> On Wed, May 6, 2015 at 2:45 AM, Ansgar Burchardt wrote:
> > - cron:
> > Not needed in chroot/container environments.
> > -> demote to "standard"
>
> A lot of packages ship cron jobs, I guess this means they will need to
> depend on cron?
cron was never "Essential: yes", so if a package depended on it for key
functionality, it already should have depended on cron. And various packages
do.
On the other hand, packages optionally enhanced by a cron job could use
suggests or recommends.
> > - logrotate, rsyslog:
> > -> tempted to demote to "standard", but maybe only in buster
>
> Same for this.
Packages that absolutely need a system log daemon should depend on
system-log-daemon, sure. (Also, there should really be a
"default-system-log-daemon", similar to default-mta, to make it easier to
change the default in the future without changing multiple packages.) Most
packages, however, don't absolutely depend on a syslog daemon; they just
benefit from having logging around.
That said, as mentioned in my response, I think rsyslog ought to stay important
until something else replaces it. Logging of *some* kind is important.
logrotate, on the other hand, is already a Recommends of rsyslog, and I think
that's the strongest dependency it should have from any package.
> > - at:
> > Rarely used (IMO).
> > -> demote to "optional"
>
> I'd keep this at standard.
Why, when it's just an "apt install at" away? It's one more running
daemon. Realistically, what fraction of Debian users actually invoke
at, ever, and of those, what fraction will be deeply disturbed by having
to install it first?
> > - mlocate:
> > Rarely used (AFAIK).
> > -> demote to "optional"
>
> I'd keep this at standard.
I'd rather have one less daily cron job indexing files for a command
most people will never run. Anyone who wants it can trivially install
it.
Also, find on / really doesn't take that long these days, even with a
cold cache.
> > - w3m:
> > I think text-mode browsers are not worth including in the default
> > install. It is *very* rare to not have another computer to use.
> > Plus in the worst case the package is still just an apt-get away.
> > -> demote to "optional"
>
> I'd wager most use of w3m is for local-only web resources on servers.
Or reading/previewing HTML on text-only systems, sure. But that's not
really something that needs to live in standard.
- Josh Triplett
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