Bug#758234: [PATCH] Remove priority "extra", make all corresponding packages priority "optional"

[Jonathan Nieder <jrnieder@gmail.com>]

Ansgar Burchardt wrote:
> Russ Allbery <rra@debian.org> writes:

>> In some cases, it can change maintenance decisions.
>
> Does this differ much from packages being picked up by other commonly
> installed software? Say GNOME starting to depend on my small library
> which suddenly raises from ~100 to 50000+ reported installations?

In the case of "Priority: required", yes.  The pseudo-essential part
has to continue to function during an upgrade before dependencies are
configured and "postinst upgrade" runs.

In the case of "Priority: important" and "standard", the main changes
are (1) having to worry more about the package's installed size and
(2) splitting the package into more pieces or variants when parts
depend on packages some users don't want (e.g. X).

Jonathan