Bug#975637: debian-policy: deprecate Rules-Requires-Root other than "no", "binary-targets" in Debian
Package: debian-policy
Version: 4.5.1.0
Severity: normal
After a discussion in #-devel today I reviewed packages using other
choices of "Rules-Requires-Root" than "no" and "binary-targets". The
query [1] found two uses:
- wfrench 1.2.6-1. This could just use "no"; a bug was filed[2].
- libcap2 1:2.44-1. Uses it for running tests as root, but doesn't support
fakeroot anyway. Rules-Requires-Root can't however communicate this so
additional knowledge is needed.
The complexity to support arbitrary additional keywords as choices of
R³ seems overkill given there is just one real user (libcap2) and the
current R³ specification doesn't handle that usecase fully either.
Therefore I suggest to deprecate using R³ values other than "no" and
"binary-targets" within Debian.
(Unrelated: R³: no should probably be recommended.)
Ansgar
[1]: https://codesearch.debian.net/search?q=Rules-Requires-Root%3A+%5B%5Ebn%5D+path%3Adebian%2Fcontrol%24&literal=0
[2]: https://bugs.debian.org/975635
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