On Fri, 21 May 2010 13:51:45 -0400 Jordan Metzmeier <[email protected]> wrote:
... > The IRC bot in #debian has this to say about "why recommends": > > From lenny onwards, apt-get and aptitude both install "Recommended" > packages by default. From <policy> section 7.2, Recommends, "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." You're not that unusual, trust us. By not installing > "recommended" packages, you will be missing functionality. But I've long found the 'recommends' concept to be somewhat tricky and perhaps to vary from maintainer to maintainer. For example, mesa-utils needs GLX, which, practically speaking, means that you need libgl1-mesa-dri. The maintainer refuses to make this even a recommends, basically since the X server can run on a different machine: http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=559223 Now, I'd bet (although I suppose that I may be wrong) that the vast majority of Debian installations have the X server and clients on the same machine, and the other case is probably the more 'unusual' one. OTOH, acpi-support 'recommends' radeontool, even though this package is utterly irrelevant to those without ATI Radeon chipsets: http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=562883 Celejar -- foffl.sourceforge.net - Feeds OFFLine, an offline RSS/Atom aggregator mailmin.sourceforge.net - remote access via secure (OpenPGP) email ssuds.sourceforge.net - A Simple Sudoku Solver and Generator -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [email protected] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [email protected] Archive: http://lists.debian.org/[email protected]
