May be this could shine the light over the situation and choices made? $> cat matlab-support/debian/README.source Although this whole package is pointless without Matlab (a large non-free something) the source package has been placed into 'main' for the following reason:
It builds a 'matlab-support-dev' package that other source packages can build depend on to figure out where to install MEX sources and M-files (analogous to the way Octave packages provide this information via a Makefile snippet). This -dev package has nothing to do with Matlab and should go into 'main', as otherwise no source package that build-depends on it could go into 'main'. That would be suboptimal for otherwise DFSG-compliant package that simply also _can_ build MEX extensions (e.g. see the dynare-matlab package in the archive). The actual Matlab adaptor package is placed into 'contrib'. On Mon, 11 Mar 2013, Michael Gilbert wrote: > package: matlab-support > severity: serious > version: 0.0.18 > The matlab-support source package (and the matlab-support-dev binary > package) are currently in main, even though they are useless without a > matlab installation. Meanwhile matlab-support binary is in contrib. > This I believe violates debian policy 2.2.2: > Examples of packages which would be included in contrib are: > - free packages which require contrib, non-free packages or packages > which are not in our archive at all for compilation or execution, and > - wrapper packages or other sorts of free accessories for > non-free programs. > This package should be moved to contrib. -- Yaroslav O. Halchenko http://neuro.debian.net http://www.pymvpa.org http://www.fail2ban.org Senior Research Associate, Psychological and Brain Sciences Dept. Dartmouth College, 419 Moore Hall, Hinman Box 6207, Hanover, NH 03755 Phone: +1 (603) 646-9834 Fax: +1 (603) 646-1419 WWW: http://www.linkedin.com/in/yarik -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-bugs-dist-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
