Package: dpkg Severity: wishlist X-Debbugs-CC: whonix-de...@whonix.org It would be useful if there was something in between of 'Recommends:' and 'Depends:'.
“Weak-Depends” Similar to “Depends”. It lists packages that get installed when using 'apt --no-install-recommends meta-package', but any package listed there can be removed without removing the meta-package which referenced the Weak-Depends:. In other words… “Weak-Depends”: Declares a weak dependency. Most users of this package may benefit from installing packages listed in this field, but can have reasonable functionality without them. The “Suggests” debian/control field does not work for this use case. Very few users are using ‘apt --install-suggests’. And ‘apt --no-install-suggests’ is the default. Also when using ‘apt dist-upgrade’ this leads to inconsistencies: - newly added packages to “Suggests” are not installed - removed packages from “Suggests” aren’t removed Use case: Let’s take for example the meta package ‘lxde’. Sometimes users are happy with such meta packages generally and would like to keep it. However, ‘lxde’ ‘Depends:’ on ‘galculator’. Maybe a user prefers a different calculator and wants to remove that one. (Let’s assume galculator isn’t essential for lxde. I guess it is. But if it isn’t, please don’t concentrate on the specific example but the general use case. There are many such examples.) [This isn’t the best example too. Perhaps things that take a lot disk space or are more intrusive such as context menu integrations by file compressors are more worthwhile.] In that case removal of galculator would lead to removal of lxde. Next time “apt autoremove” is being run other packages which are not intended by the user to be uninstalled get uninstalled. Something simple as removal of galculator isn’t that simple. Would galculator move from “Depends” to “Weak-Depends” everything would be perfect. Cheers, Patrick
