vincent.mcint...@csiro.au wrote: >> + <para> >> + The package descriptions for transitional dummy packages usually >> indicate their >> + purpose. However, they are not uniform; in particular, some >> <quote>dummy</quote> >> + packages are designed to be kept installed (e.g. to express a >> dependency on >> + the current latest version of some program). You might also find >> + <command>deborphan</command> with the >> <literal>--guess-<replaceable>*</replaceable></literal> options (e.g. >> - <literal>--guess-dummy</literal>) useful to detect them in your >> system. Note >> - that some dummy packages are not intended to be removed after an >> upgrade but >> - are, instead, used to keep track of the current available version of >> a program >> - over time. >> + <literal>--guess-dummy</literal>) useful to detect transitional dummy >> packages >> + on your system. >> </para> >> </section> >> > > I agree with everything you've said about this text but as regards > the patch I think some mention of tracking packages should be kept. > Something like: > > One class of dummy package that are not intended to be removed > are <quote>tracking</quote> packages, which are used to keep > track of the current available version of a program over time. > A common case is <literal>linux-image-</literal>-&architecture;.
The idea was that the earlier bit about "a dependency on the current latest version of some program" was talking about "tracking packages", and it seemed to make more sense to mention them in the part before the deborphan recipe. Unlike Ben I rather like the idea of distinguishing version-tracking dependency metapackages from full-suite dependency metapackages, but we don't want to go into it in depth here. The objective is just to tell readers enough to let them ignore both kinds while searching for transitional dummy packages. I was deliberately not using linux-image-* as an example on the grounds that it doesn't claim to be a "dummy package". In fact most of the confusing cases seem to be "full-suite" metapackages. So another option would be: The package descriptions for transitional dummy packages usually indicate their purpose. However, they are not uniform; in particular, some <quote>dummy</quote> packages are designed to be kept installed, in order to pull in a full software suite, or track the current latest version of some program. You might also find <command>deborphan</command> with the <literal>--guess-<replaceable>*</replaceable></literal> options (e.g. <literal>--guess-dummy</literal>) useful to detect transitional dummy packages on your system. -- JBR with qualifications in linguistics, experience as a Debian sysadmin, and probably no clue about this particular package