On Mon 15 Apr 2019 at 08:50:12 (-0500), Richard Owlett wrote: > On 04/15/2019 03:39 AM, Peter Wiersig wrote: > > Richard Owlett <rowl...@cloud85.net> writes: > > > Long term goal: *personal* definition of a minimalist Debian > > > > > > current goal: grok how packages interact > > > > http://www.macfreek.nl/memory/Dependency_Graph_Debian_Packages > > TLDR: > > $ apt-cache dotty mate-desktop > dependency-graph.dot > > $ dot -Tpng dependency-graph.dot > > After I posted I found a reference using Graphiz with "apt-cache dotty" > I haven't read the documentation yet. > > I tried you example and got a command not found at second line. > I found a man page for "dot" then went looking for a package to > provide it -- found/installed xdot.
I'm not sure we need the blow by blow account. > Using "dot -Tps dependency-graph.dot > owl.ps" I got a displayable, > if not readable, graph. There was a warning in what I had read about > "dotty" about viewablity issues if the graph was too complex. Suspect > that is problem. Add -o APT::Cache::GivenOnly=1 to the commandline, and you'll get a much smaller graph. I haven't figured out why python and python-requests are missng from the graph, or is this a stretch/buster difference. (I'm comparing the graph with the Packages entry: Package: mate-desktop Version: 1.16.2-2 Architecture: amd64 Replaces: mate-desktop-gnome Depends: hicolor-icon-theme, libmate-desktop-2-17 (>= 1.10.0), mate-desktop-common (= 1.16.2-2), python, python-requests, libatk1.0-0 (>= 1.12.4), libc6 (>= 2.4), libcairo-gobject2 (>= 1.10.0), libcairo2 (>= 1.2.4), libgdk-pixbuf2.0-0 (>= 2.22.0), libglib2.0-0 (>= 2.28.0), libgtk-3-0 (>= 3.0.0), libpango-1.0-0 (>= 1.14.0), libpangocairo-1.0-0 (>= 1.14.0), libstartup-notification0 (>= 0.2), libxrandr2 Recommends: mate-user-guide Breaks: mate-desktop-gnome [edited].) > > That either creates files named after the input or at least shows a > > graphic of the package you specified. > > > > I think I remember and older planet.debian.org post where someone else > > had done similar. Have not found it in a very short research session. > > > > > > Alternatively explore interactive with aptitude when you disable the > > solver there and pick the resulting installation by hand, and decide > > which suggest/recommend you follow, and which non-essential package you > > might even not install. > > I can't parse that sentence. By context I suspect I can do some > searching which will clarify. Yes, it's often difficult to follow explanations of GUI processes because they're interactive by nature. Sometimes a video is more help than written instructions. The modern world … Cheers, David.
