Patrick Franz <delta...@debian.org> writes: > I agree with Soren here.
Me too. > Setting a hard dependency on an addons package feels quite wrong. I > believe that a Recommends is the best solution here. The package gets > installed by default, but can still be removed by those who do not want > it. > If you're not installing recommend packages, then you'll have to live > with the occasional missing feature. +1 > At the same time, if we were to set kdepim-addons as a hard dependency > for kmail, then I'm sure some user would complain that they cannot > remove an optional addons package they don't want. > +1 The logic is: Debian exists for user freedom. "Recommends" installs packages that most users will use; This frees them from needing to spend an undefined amount of time learning what package they need to install to enable expected functionality. "Recommends" also allows users to uninstall functionality that is non-essential to them; this liberty exists for users who are not in the majority "most users" category; this liberty frees users from the potential tyranny of opinionated maintainers. When a users see packages in the list that they don't want, they remove them. Users who wish to blacklist packages should add those packages to a post-upgrade script. "--no-install-recommends" is for users who would rather spend an undefined amount of time learning what package to install to enable functionality that most users expect. This liberty is for people who want as little as possible, even if it costs them time. Such is the virtue of stoics--whose liberties we also uphold. Regards, Nicholas
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