Re: Policy: should libraries depend on services (daemons) that they can speak to?
On 07/01/2024 19:39, Ansgar wrote:
> I would like to extend Debian Policy on libraries depending on services
> (daemons) that they can speak to.
Generally speaking, if an application is using a client-server model and there's no technical requirement for the client and server to be running on the same machine, the client package should absolutely *not* depend on the server package.
As an example, if I install some PostgreSQL libraries on my laptop so I can manage a bunch of PostgreSQL servers I maintain, I clearly don't need or want a full PostgreSQL server installed on my laptop.
This also holds true for audio daemons like PulseAudio. The server component is not required for the client libraries to function, so the latter should not depend on the former. The argument is less clear in this case since the majority of users will likely be running client and server on the same box, but I believe the logic is the same. A package's "Depends" field is for installing packages that are _required_ in order for the requested package to function, and shouldn't be used to provide user convenience based on an assumed use case. That's really what "Suggests" is for. If we have high confidence that another package is required for a dominant use case we could go as far as "Recommends", but we should only use "Depends" for additional packages required for *all* of a package's use cases.
Best regards,
Dale Richards
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