Bug#688845: texlive-fonts-extra: Please demote all additional Depends to Recommends

[Frank Kuester <frank@kuesterei.ch>]

Fabian Greffrath <fabian@greffrath.com> writes:

>> Did you check that *none* of the other files distributed by TeX Live
>> in the texlive-fonts-extra package require any of the font packages
>> that it depends on?
>
> No, and I am even sure that some other files in texlive-fonts-extra
> *do* require some of the fonts that it depends on. But I think that it
> can be expected from users --if they want to use a font from
> texlive-fonts-extra in TeX-- to make sure to install that actual font
> package as well. Furthermore, recommended packages will be installed
> alongside t-f-e by default; the main difference being that it's
> allowed to remove them without having to remove t-f-e as well.

That's a point, but we should carefully think about this, and also think
about which road we're getting onto when we make this change.  Are there
other packages where people will ask us to demote many Depends to
Recommends?  Do we want to do that?  What is the criterion for a
Depends, then?  

If we follow your argument, shouldn't all but the "-base" packages have
_only_ Recommends?  Isn't such a TeXLive package more like the old task
packages, then?  Am I right that those have been abandoned, and if yes
why? 

Regards, Frank