Hello, On Nov 5 12:04 Michal Kubecek wrote (excerpt):
But the "Recommends:" usually pull in leaf packages that are not really needed to use the software.
I think we agree that basically the packager decides what is "really needed to use the software" which means the decision depends on the packager's point of view. Personally I think what is really needed to use the software but what is not mandatory to run the software should be specified as "Recommends" when packaging it for a distribution that supports weak RPM dependencies (so that "Requires" is only used for what is mandatory to run the software).
Hypothetical example: I could imagine a package would recommend a PDF viewer just because it install documentation in PDF format.
Personally I think that should not be specified as "Recommends" but - if at all - as "Suggests" (when packaging it for a distribution that supports weak RPM dependencies). I would never recommend or suggest an editor when a package contains a textual config file or a browser when a package contains a HTML file.
Real example: I've seen package X recommending X-lang often. That's what I have in mind - in these cases "Requires:" would be straight wrong.
Personally I also think in this case when packaging it for a distribution that does not support weak RPM dependencies "Requires: X-lang" is probably wrong. But I think it depends on the usual behaviour of other packages for such a particular distribution. If other packages usually install into /usr/share/locale/ then even "Requires: X-lang" could be the right thing for that particular distribution (that does not support weak RPM dependencies). Kind Regards Johannes Meixner -- SUSE LINUX GmbH -- Maxfeldstrasse 5 -- 90409 Nuernberg -- Germany HRB 21284 (AG Nuernberg) GF: Jeff Hawn, Jennifer Guild, Felix Imendoerffer -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-packaging+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-packaging+owner@opensuse.org