Package: libsnmp-base Version: 5.4.2.1~dfsg-3 Severity: important On installation, libsnmp-base prompts about whether to download and install non-free MIB files, with high priority. This has a number of problems:
- As stated several times in the discussion leading to this change, libsnmp-base doesn't necessarily need these MIBs to function; only the command-line tools, and *possibly* other software using libsnmp-base that wants names rather than numbers, do. That would tend to lead to a "Suggests" at most from libsnmp-base. Prompting for installation proves quite intrusive by comparison, for something most users don't need. - It adds another prompt to installation which users have to answer, many of which won't necessarily have a clue about SNMP. A quick look at the reverse-Depends of libsnmp15 (which pulls in libsnmp-base) turns up hplip, openipmi, ifstat, and kolab-cyrus-common, any of which a user might install without any knowledge of SNMP. - It bypasses the packaging system by downloading and installing bits that don't get managed by the package manager. (This will prove even more painful if the data needs updating at any point.) Furthermore, it installs these bits to /usr. - It bypasses the dependency mechanisms of the packaging system. Software depending on libsnmp-base and needing the MIB files would fail if the user says "no", but nothing in the dependencies can express this. Furthermore, this also does an end-run around the requirement that software in main may not depend on non-free software, by simply omitting the dependency and letting things break. - It prompts the user to install non-free software. Previously, Debian has avoided and removed such prompts, notably the one in the initial installation asking whether to use contrib and non-free. I propose two alternative solutions, which I think would address all of these issues: 1) If the licenses of the MIB files permit (which as far as I can tell they do), package the MIB files in Debian non-free. Have libsnmp-base suggest this new package; packages in main may suggest packages in contrib or non-free, they just can't depend on or recommend packages in contrib or non-free. Other packages, like smi, can also suggest this package. Any package which actually requires the MIB files can depend on them (and move to contrib), if we can't fix it to avoid that requirement; packages which work fine without the MIB files but which could make use of them if present could suggest the package containing the MIBs. 2) If the licenses of the MIB files do not permit redistribution, create a package in contrib which unconditionally downloads and installs them, and treat that package as described in 1 above (Suggests from libsnmp-base, in particular). Really tempted to file this bug as "serious", but AFAICT it doesn't violate the *letter* of Debian Policy. I personally think we ought to change Policy to explicitly prohibit a package in main from offering to download non-free data at install time, though. Note that any package in main which depends (directly or indirectly) on libsnmp-base and needs the MIBs *does* violate Debian Policy. - Josh Triplett -- System Information: Debian Release: squeeze/sid APT prefers unstable APT policy: (500, 'unstable'), (1, 'experimental') Architecture: amd64 (x86_64) Kernel: Linux 2.6.31-1-amd64 (SMP w/2 CPU cores) Locale: LANG=en_US.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8) Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash Versions of packages libsnmp-base depends on: ii debconf [debconf-2.0] 1.5.28 Debian configuration management sy ii gawk 1:3.1.6.dfsg-4 GNU awk, a pattern scanning and pr ii make 3.81-7 An utility for Directing compilati ii wget 1.12-1.1 retrieves files from the web libsnmp-base recommends no packages. libsnmp-base suggests no packages. -- debconf information: * libsnmp-base/download_mibs: false -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-bugs-dist-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
