Bug#235525: debian-policy: [PROPOSAL] Relax priority relations between packages (Policy 2.5)
On Fri, Mar 12, 2004 at 12:42:05AM -0600, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
> On Fri, 12 Mar 2004 03:00:44 +0100, Jakob Bohm <jbj@image.dk> said:
>
> > [5 ] is the problem, if the user finds a different way of satisfying
> > the dependencies of p' or chooses an alternative to p' over p', then
> > the packaging system provides neither the user, nor any tool the
> > user might run with any way of knowing if p is still needed for its
> > own reasons independently of its relationship with p' .
>
> Haven't used aptitude, have you?
>
I use it almost exclusively these days, but I have not had the
time to read its source. Also I have spent the time to go
through almost all installed packages and manually assign the M
flag based on human knowledge and intelligence. So for existing
packages I have probably "solved" the issue by manual
configuration one computer at a time, which is not a real
solution for future installs or new users.
However, I still see no in band mechanism in the packaging system
whereby aptitude or any other tool can determine if a package
priority is assigned to satisfy assertion [1] or because the
package in and of itself is considered a necessary part of the
functionality promised by that priority level. That should
affect the quality of any aptitude default settings of the M
flag.
Jakob
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