Bug#45163: A new twist on "dselect won't accept no for recommended packages"

[Daniel Martin <martind@math.jhu.edu>]

Package: dpkg
Version: 1.4.1.7
Severity: Important

The setup:
  I'm using dselect to follow potato and want to have the following
packages (among others) installed:
vflib2
gpg-idea
gpg-rsaref

I DO NOT want to have the following package installed:
gpg-rsa
(I still have some scruples about following the silly US software patent
laws)

The problem:
I find it *impossible* to tell this to dselect.  After leaving the
select stage, I am thrown into the conflict resolution screen with a setup
that looks something like this: (from memory as I'm not at home)
 *** vflib2
 *** gpg-idea
 __* gpg-rsa

I move down to gpg-rsa, press underscore so that I have
 *** vflib2
 *** gpg-idea
 ___ gpg-rsa

I press enter, and I'm thrown right back into the conflict resolution
screen, with gpg-rsa selected again.  I can't leave dselect unless I
accept the selection of gpg-rsa, or deselect both gpg-rsa and vflib2.

The problem, I believe, is that vflib recommends watanabe-font, which is
unavailable.  Somehow this unsatisfiable recommends is causing dselect to
want to redo all of its recommends checking from the top, regardless of
whether or not I've already been asked about a particular recommends.

It's annoying enough when I have to re-answer the same question each time
I go through dselect.  It's downright unuseable when I can't select the
set of packages I want to.