Re: Difference Dependency-Recommendation
Holger writes:
> I don't quite understand the difference between "Dependency" and
> "Recommendation", two terms that commonly occur when talking about
> Debian's packet management system.
'Depends' means that the package will not work without it. 'Recommends'
means that the package maintainer recommends it, but the package will work
without it.
> I think both have the same result: the packet (usually, unless explicitly
> overridden) gets installed.
No. dpkg (which is what actually installs packages regardless of the
front-end) will not install packages with unsatisfied dependencies unless
you use '--force-depends'. It ignores 'Recommends' (as does apt). dselect
gets rather insistent about 'Recommends', but its insistence can be
overridden.
--
John Hasler
john@dhh.gt.org
Dancing Horse Hill
Elmwood, Wisconsin
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