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Author Topic:  gnome metapackage is to be removed  (Read 1608 times)

Offline df8oe

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gnome metapackage is to be removed
« on: 2016/09/05, 10:17:24 »
About KDE now all is ok - all packages seem to reach unstable. But now since a few days package "gnome" is to be removed. I am unsure f this is really bad because its a metapackage ??


best regards
Andreas

Offline OppaErich

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Re: gnome metapackage is to be removed
« Reply #1 on: 2016/09/05, 10:36:57 »
Let it go. Metapackages are useful exactly once for installing. There's no content, just a list of dependencies.


73,
dg1ees

Offline df8oe

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Re: gnome metapackage is to be removed
« Reply #2 on: 2016/09/05, 11:03:15 »
Many thanks. Everything worked fine and system is still alive (and actual state now) :)


Best regards
Andreas

Offline musca

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Re: gnome metapackage is to be removed
« Reply #3 on: 2016/09/05, 11:13:43 »
Hello df8oe,

metapackages are convenient to install, but maintaining such sid installs isn't.

Especially the gnome package makes use of hard dependencies to pull applications.
As a consequence it will break each time, when a glitch in packaging happens.

E.g. packages gnome and quadrapassel in sid/amd64 are linked by hard dependency chain:
Code: [Select]
gnome ▶ gnome-games ▶ quadrapasselThis means you can't keep installed the gnome or gnome-games package without the quadrapassel game and the debian gnome maintainers want this behaviour. Even the debian stable release tends to break  https://bugs.debian.org/715555 (because back in wheezy you couldn't have gnome without xul-ext-adblock-plus).

siduction doesn't install metapackages but maintains a list of packages and allows the user to modify the selection. Well, recently we have had discussions about this design. Feel free to comment.

greetings
musca
„Es irrt der Mensch, solang er strebt.“  (Goethe, Faust)

Offline df8oe

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Re: gnome metapackage is to be removed
« Reply #4 on: 2016/09/05, 12:37:16 »
This behaviour is quite ok. Now I know this and there is no need to change anything. There are different ways to handle these dependencies and I am not able to point at "the one way which is the best". I think there is no such way.


I amworking using siduction since two yearsand Igot solved EVERY problem that occurs by myself (and a little help from google / nswers in this forum here).


Good work you al do for the community!!!


Best regards
Andreas