Package: sysvinit-utils
Version: 3.15-6
Tags: patch
X-Debbugs-CC: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected]
Dear sysvinit maintainers,
you can find at
<https://salsa.debian.org/debian/sysvinit/-/merge_requests/16> a patch
that removes the Essential bit from sysvinit-utils (a stepping stone
towards fixing <https://bugs.debian.org/826215> and
<https://bugs.debian.org/954306>).
The Essential bit can be removed because, after years of work, no
package make use of `pidof` in their maintscripts. (Except 5 low-popcon
packages for which patches and bug reports has already been submitted.)
Once sysvinit-utils is no longer Essential, the plan towards making it a
normal (i.e., Priority: optional) package would roughly be:
1. Ensure that all package that use `pidof` at runtime (not as part of
their initscripts) gain a dependency on `procps` (even though it does
not ship `pidof` yet). The preparatory work is completed and a MBF will
be announced in the next few days on debian-devel@ (~90 packages are
affected).
2. Once the bulk of the MBF bugs will be dealt with, patched versions of
`sysvinit-utils` (losing `pidof`) and `procps` (gaining `pidof`) should
be uploaded during the same dinstall, to unsure no disruption to Debian
users. You can find draft version of these patches at
<https://salsa.debian.org/gioele/sysvinit/-/compare/non-essential...pidof-remove?from_project_id=109534>
and <https://salsa.debian.org/gioele/procps/-/compare/master...pidof-enable>
3. In Debian 15 Duke the Priority of `sysvinit-utils` will be lowered to
`optional` and systems without `sysvinit-core` will drop it.
Regards,
--
Gioele Barabucci
