Bug#183390: acknowledged by developer (Re: apt-get source doesn't check if package dpkg-dev is installed)

[Johannes Lundberg <jojo@infidyne.com>]

> What would you suggest that it do if dpkg-dev is not installed?  Surely it
> should not abort and skip the download of the package, which can still be
> unpacked without dpkg-dev.  All it could do is display a warning or such,
> which is essentially the same as the current behaviour.

Aborting would be bad. Displaying a proper warning would be a good idea,
especially when you run apt-get -b source.

Not a big deal though.