Bug#1040520: libheif1: Please don't split plugins in separate packages
On Fri, Jul 07, 2023 at 11:10:51AM +0200, Christian Marillat wrote:
> From Debian policy 7.2 :
>
> ,----
> | "Recommends"
> | This declares a strong, but not absolute, dependency.
> |
> | The "Recommends" field should list packages that would be found
> | together with this one in all but unusual installations.
> `----
>
> For now libheif1 without the right plugin is unusable.
That depends on on how you want to use libheif1. For instance, I use
geeqie. It happens to link libheif1. If I were to remove the files of
libheif1, geeqie would miss a library and fail to start. Given the
presence of libheif1, I can run geeqie. Using geeqie works given that I
don't interact with the relevant file format. Quite obviously,
"unusable" does not accurately describe it.
> I see nothing in teh Debian policy sating that we need to minimize dependecies.
Not everything we do is encoded into policy. Often times, policy is
updated to reflect current practice.
> > Would you rather consider enabling the installation of recommended
> > packages?
>
> A joke ?
Not at all. In disabling recommendations, you characterize your
installation as unusual (according to policy). Having to install extra
packages in such an unusual installation seems like a reasonable
trade-off to me. Usually, libheif1 will install the necessary plugins
via recommendations, so usually things work as expected.
In any case, it is quite obvious that we disagree here. Since this is
space vs convenience trade-off, we won't advance the matter through
arguments. To arrive at a reasonable conclusion, we likely need further
input from others (e.g. debian-devel@lists.debian.org).
Helmut
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