On Sun, Aug 17, 2025 at 11:05:19PM -0700, David Christensen wrote: [...] > If `apt-get purge firefox-esr` purges the desktop or other packages that > casual observers would expect to be unrelated, then that would be a serious > bug. I think that's wrong: if the desktop environment depended on firefox-esr, then it would have to uninstall the DE (in the case of gnome, the relation is just "suggests", though). > > > > then I don't understand where the > > serious bug is. My firefox-esr is a dependency of firefox-esr-l10n-en-gb, > > and when setting up the system, installing firefox-esr-l10n-en-gb > > pulled in firefox-esr. > > > > But libreoffice-help-en-gb also depends on a browser, and I made sure > > to install it after firefox-esr-l10n-en-gb so that it didn't pull in > > some other browser.¹ > > > > So if I remove firefox-esr, APT will dutifully install > > epiphany-browser² and any of its dependencies that are lacking. > > Not what we want. > > > Do you mean "So if I remove firefox-esr, APT will dutifully uninstall > epiphany-browser"? And, libreoffice is also uninstalled? If so, the term > "dependency hell" comes to mind. No, no. The libreoffice-help-en-gb *wants* a browser, any browser. If you kill firefox (the only left browser in your system), the dependency resolver decides you need another (instead of uninstalling libreoffice-help-en-gb, which is arguably worse). > All the more justification for "backup, wipe, install, restore". I disagree: understanding your tools seems a better option to me. Cheers -- t
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