Bug#204156: 'apt-cache rdepends' also matches Replaces: and Suggests: fields

[Matt Zimmerman <mdz@debian.org>]

severity 204156 wishlist
retitle 204156 [apt-cache] More detailed reverse dependencies
thanks

On Mon, Aug 04, 2003 at 04:51:17PM -0700, Joshua Kwan wrote:

> apt-cache rdepends also matches replaces: and suggests: fields.
> For example:
> 
> joshk@firesong:~> apt-cache rdepends libbz2
> libbz2
> Reverse Depends:
>   libcoin40
>   bzip2
> 
> joshk@firesong:~> apt-cache show libcoin40 | grep bz2
> Suggests: libfreetype6, libopenal0, zlib1g, libbz2
> joshk@firesong:~> apt-cache show bzip2 | grep bz2
> Replaces: libbz2(<<0.9.5d-3)
> 
> Probably also applies to 'Recommends' fields, I'd imagine. Either the
> synopsis of the command should be changed or it should be rectified to
> only show reverse dependencies. I understand that 'Suggests' is a
> minor/harmless type of dependency; hence I suggest that it should be
> immediately clearer in the output to the user which ones are Depends,
> which ones are Suggests, etc.

Indeed, it applies to all dependency fields, including conflicts, and always
has.  I agree that it might be nice if it could be more specific, but this
is a feature request.  It should be an easy one, though, so don't be afraid
to jump into the code if you're familiar with C++.

-- 
 - mdz