

Dependancies and Priorities

Maybe I'm too idealistic, or a curmudgeon, or something on that order,
but it seems to me that if a "Standard" package depends on an
"Optional" package, the "Extra" package isn't really "Optional". I
noticed this with mkrboot, which is listed as Standard and depends on
fdos and loadlin, which are both Optional.

My logic is thus:  If I want a minimal system, I should just be able
to install all Required packages and have no conflicts. If I want a
Standard system, I should be able to install all the Standard packages
and have no conflicts. And so on.  Having packages depend on lower
priority packages just seems broken to me, and suggests that you can't
really depend on the priority to make informed decisions about what to

Any comments?


  Larry Daffner        |  Linux: Unleash the workstation in your PC!
Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes
hurtling down the highway.  -- Andrew Tanenbaum


Reply to: