I need a clarification because I am confused.  If I have a script that
uses awk do I need the package to "Depends: awk"?  Or is awk like
basename where we are able to assume it is on the system without any
explicit dependencies?

I see that many packages do "Depends: awk".  But awk is an alternative
and mawk is "Priority: required" so I would not think so.  But gawk
provides awk and is "Priority: optional" but with a higher alternative
priority too and so that "required" mawk is almost never used.  (I
always install gawk as awk for its better features.)

If the package used gawk specific features then the decision would be
easy.  It would need to depend upon gawk.  But it only uses basic awk
features and so any of the alternatives is sufficient.

Thanks for you knowledge in this.

Bob

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