On Wed, Nov 09, 2005 at 06:43:51PM -0700, Bob Proulx wrote: > I need a clarification because I am confused. If I have a script that > uses awk do I need the package to "Depends: awk"? Or is awk like > basename where we are able to assume it is on the system without any > explicit dependencies? > I see that many packages do "Depends: awk". But awk is an alternative > and mawk is "Priority: required" so I would not think so. But gawk > provides awk and is "Priority: optional" but with a higher alternative > priority too and so that "required" mawk is almost never used. (I > always install gawk as awk for its better features.) > If the package used gawk specific features then the decision would be > easy. It would need to depend upon gawk. But it only uses basic awk > features and so any of the alternatives is sufficient. > Thanks for you knowledge in this. awk is "virtually essential": it can't be Essential: yes because that would prevent removing mawk in favor of gawk, but awk is a dependency of another essential package to ensure that you can use basic awk functionality without having to depend on it. -- Steve Langasek Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS Debian Developer to set it on, and I can move the world. vorlon@debian.org http://www.debian.org/
Attachment:
signature.asc
Description: Digital signature