From my perspective ("user", I suppose), it seems more logical to have the very packages that "don't work as expected without fam" depend on fam, and that would be nautilus and gnome-panel.
I agree with this, but I strongly believe it should be a recommendation and not a dependency.
However, if installing the nautilus-package means installing "core nautilus only" it seems reasonable to have it only suggest fam (or ignore fam?).
From policy section 7.2:
Depends
This declares an absolute dependency. <snip>
The Depends field should be used if the depended-on package is required for the depending package to provide a significant amount of
functionality. <snip>
Recommends
This declares a strong, but not absolute, dependency.
The Recommends field should list packages that would be found together with this one in all but unusual installations.
Which one of those best describes the relationship between gnome-panel and fam and between nautilus and fam? It seems clear to me that it's 'recommends'. I use gnome-panel every day and nautilus regularly, both without fam, and I don't feel that I'm missing 'a significant amount of functionality'.
-- Jon
