Package: debian-policy Version: 3.8.0.1 Severity: minor Hi, Policy currently reads:
8.2 Shared library support files
[...]
Run-time support programs that use the shared library but are not required for the library to function or files used by the shared library that can be used by any version of the shared library package should instead be put in a separate package. This package might typically be named libraryname-tools; note the absence of the soversion in the package name.
However, in practice the -utils suffix for the discussed type of packages seems to be much more widely used than the -tools suffix that is suggested by policy 8.2. On my system I get the following results:
$ dpkg -l \*-tools | wc -l 27 $ dpkg -l \*-utils | wc -l 38I propose a change in the wording of the last sentence, maybe to something like this:
This package might typically be named libraryname-utils or (at your option) libraryname-tools; note the absence of the soversion in the package name.
However, if this would be a real recommendation regarding the package name for run-time support programs, we would need many transitional -utils packages poiting to many newly introduced -tools packages in the archive to become policy compliant. ;)
Cheers, Fabian