Bug#33991: Automatic library install/deinstall

[Simon Richter <richters@informatik.uni-muenchen.de>]

Stephane Bortzmeyer wrote:

> > My suggestion on how to achieve this would be a new installation request:
> > "Install if other packages depend on it, remove otherwise". This could be
> > the default value for just about any package starting with lib*, because
> > they seldom add functionality to the system by themselves. Of course, the
> > user should be able to explicitly request installation.
>
> Very bad idea (making it the default value). What about libraries which are
> used only by /usr/local/* stuff, thus not visible for dpkg?

For everything that is not handled by dpkg, it is still up to the
administrator which packages he/she/it needs to install. It would be a first
step, and it would speed up binstats checks (you only need to check the
libraries that are installed although no other packages depend on them and
libraries that are not contained in a package ["cruft" could find them]
against all executables not found in any package. That is, instead of testing
200 libraries against 50,000 executables, we're now testing 10 libraries
against 100 executables), so it would make running binstats every week or so a
feasible option.

   Simon