Re: Metapackage dependencies: "Depends" or "Recommends"?
* Simon McVittie <smcv@debian.org> [150728 08:55]:
> On 28/07/15 13:08, Marvin Renich wrote:
> > There is no downside to using Recommends and no upside to using Depends
> > for metapackages.
>
> I don't think it's that simple; it comes down to a question of what the
> metapackage "means", which is a design question for its maintainer.
>
> For metapackages that exist to make upgrades work ("dummy packages"),
> usually only Depends make sense: the package's entire purpose is to make
> sure old dependencies pull in what's needed.
Agreed. Transitional packages are a separate issue.
> Tasks and task-like metapackages can be a mixture of both. It would make
> no sense for xfce4 to drop its Depends on xfwm4 down to a Recommends: if
> you don't have xfwm4, it is simply not true that you have "the core
> packages of the Xfce4 desktop environment" and the package database
> shouldn't claim that you do.
I still disagree. If I want most of the core xfce4, but not quite all,
I should be able to install the metapackage and remove one or two items.
Both window manager and file manager are specifically things I might
wish to replace. Your example is a very good demonstration of why
Recommends is appropriate.
> Perhaps the right question to be asking is: if foo has a RC bug, does
> that inherently make the task-bar metapackage unreleasable? If yes, then
> task-bar Depends on foo; if no, then task-bar Recommends (or even
> Suggests) foo.
No. If foo has an RC bug, any package that would be functionally broken
should have a Depends. The metapackage might be logically broken^W less
useful, but it is not functionally broken.
> Applying that logic to the xfce4 metapackage: if xfwm4 had a RC bug and
> got kicked out of testing, then the XFCE suite would not be not usable,
> so we should also consider xfce4 to be RC-buggy. Good; it should have a
> Depends, which it does.
If xfwm4 had an RC bug, the XFCE suite may be logically broken, and the
maintainers may not wish to distribute the rest of the XFCE packages
without it, which might mean removing the metapackage xfce4. But using
a Depends in the metapackage is not necessary to accomplish that.
If some of the other XFCE packages require xfwm4 and will break if you
use a different window manager, then they (the non-metapackages) should
have an appropriate Depends.
A metapackage should not be used as a bat to beat users into installing
ALL of something. It should be a tool to help users install all of
something if they wish, but users should still have as much control as
is reasonable to pick and choose a partial subset if it works for them.
...Marvin
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