Followup-For: Bug #455690 Package: findutils Version: 4.2.31-3 Andreas Metzler wrote: >> Marcus Lundblad wrote: >> After upgrading Lenny today, there was a new version of findutils. locate has >> been split out as a separate package. But it is not automatically installed [...] > it is mentioned in /usr/share/doc/findutils/NEWS.Debian.gz which is > displayed on upgrades by apt-listchanges.
Unfortunately, the dislocated findutils reached Testing before locate or mlocate did. For Lenny users reading that NEWS file, the only available locate implementation was slocate - and even that was subtly sabotaged by the disabling of /etc/updatedb.conf! But that's in the past. I'm more interested in working out how things should work for Stable users when Lenny is released. > The major point of the exercise was to not install any locate by > default anymore. (And yes, since apt installs Recommends automatically > nowadays makeing findutils Recommends: locate is out, too. IMNSHO). Calling it automatic is misleading; it's only a default. People who want their system to change would still have the option of explicitly removing (or never installing) locate, regardless of Recommends. And speaking as someone who runs Etch on his desktop, that to me seems the right way round; dialogues should always say "downgrade the system's functionality [y/N]?", never "[Y/n]?". However, I don't want to push too hard for this. It's your package, and if you don't like Recommends, then fine, don't make it a Recommends. Make it a Suggests, instead. After Lenny's release, you'll be entitled to assume that users have had a chance to get used to the idea of locate as an optional extra. But even then, as long as findutils retains the name of an upstream GNU package that provides locate, it's only polite to give some sort of pointer in the right direction for people who were expecting it. This information could (also/instead) go in the package description, which is presently in need of some maintenance work - it still says: These utilities find files meeting specified criteria and perform various actions on the files which are found. That was a fair summary of find plus xargs plus locate, but it's a bit of a stretch for find plus xargs. Might I suggest: GNU findutils provides utilities to find files meeting specified criteria and perform various actions on the files which are found. This package contains 'find' and 'xargs'; however, 'locate' has been split off into a separate package. (Patch to control file attached.) -- System Information: Debian Release: lenny/sid APT prefers testing APT policy: (500, 'testing'), (50, 'unstable') Architecture: i386 (i586) Kernel: Linux 2.6.23.xan Locale: LANG=en_GB.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_GB.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8) Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash Versions of packages findutils depends on: ii libc6 2.7-3 GNU C Library: Shared libraries findutils recommends no packages. -- no debconf information -- JBR Ankh kak! (Ancient Egyptian blessing)
--- control.old 2007-12-01 11:05:38.000000000 +0000 +++ control.new 2007-12-14 17:52:38.000000000 +0000 @@ -5,8 +5,11 @@ Maintainer: Andreas Metzler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Installed-Size: 1136 Pre-Depends: libc6 (>= 2.7-1) +Suggests: locate Section: utils Priority: required Description: utilities for finding files--find, xargs - These utilities find files meeting specified criteria and perform - various actions on the files which are found. + GNU findutils provides utilities to find files meeting specified + criteria and perform various actions on the files which are found. + This package contains 'find' and 'xargs'; however, 'locate' has + been split off into a separate package.
