Bug#849483: debian-policy: emacs build dependencies probably need adjustment

[Rob Browning <rlb@defaultvalue.org>]

Package: debian-policy
Version: 3.9.8.0

Three potential issues:

First, note that the (emacs) metapackage version doesn't have any
correspondence with the version of emacs itself, i.e. right now it's
46.1, so I suspect the current >= 24.4 restriction isn't what was
intended.

Second -- in general, packages shouldn't build-depend on the emacs
metapackage.  Right now it's really only intended as a convenience for
users that just want to make sure they have the "latest recommended
emacs flavor".

So packages should depend on at least one concrete flavor (likely the
-nox variant for builds), and then the virtual flavor (the provides),
i.e.:

  Build-Depends: emacs24-nox | emacs24

And of course you can put normal version restrictions on the flavors if
needed.

And finally, we'd like to remove emacs24 from the archive as soon as
it's feasible, so please try to upgrade to emacs25, or add optional
support for emacs25 as soon as you can.

For example, assuming the package works with emacs25, a dependency like

  emacs25-nox | emacs25 | emacs24

should suffice.

Thanks
-- 
Rob Browning
rlb @defaultvalue.org and @debian.org
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