Bug#1007887: vim: Remove "Depends: xxd" from vim-common

[James McCoy]

Source: vim
Version: 2:8.2.3995-1
Severity: normal

xxd has been its own package since 2016-09-10. Packages that were
(Build-)Depending on vim-common for xxd should transition. This bug
will be used to track that progress.


-- Package-specific info:

--- real paths of main Vim binaries ---
/usr/bin/vi is /usr/bin/vim.gtk3
/usr/bin/vim is /usr/bin/vim.gtk3
/usr/bin/gvim is /usr/libexec/neovim-qt/gvim

-- System Information:
Debian Release: bookworm/sid
APT prefers unstable-debug
APT policy: (500, 'unstable-debug'), (500, 'unstable'), (500, 'testing'), (1, 'experimental-debug'), (1, 'experimental')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)

Kernel: Linux 5.16.0-5-amd64 (SMP w/4 CPU threads; PREEMPT)
Locale: LANG=en_US.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8), LANGUAGE not set
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /usr/bin/dash
Init: systemd (via /run/systemd/system)
LSM: AppArmor: enabled

[RjY]

Hi, this morning I was surprised to see xxd being removed by the latest
apt upgrade (because it was marked as automatically installed - I have
since marked it as manual).

I agree it should not be a "Depends:" but would it make sense to retain
a "Recommends:" or "Suggests:" relationship between the packages to
avoid surprising users?

[ At least those who have not switched the settings of
APT::AutoRemove::{Recommends,Suggests}Important away from their default
values :) ]

--
https://rjy.org.uk/

[James McCoy]

On Sat, Aug 06, 2022 at 08:55:50AM +0100, RjY wrote:
> Hi, this morning I was surprised to see xxd being removed by the latest
> apt upgrade (because it was marked as automatically installed - I have
> since marked it as manual).

Which is the logical step, since you actually want xxd installed.

> I agree it should not be a "Depends:" but would it make sense to retain
> a "Recommends:" or "Suggests:" relationship between the packages to
> avoid surprising users?

I'm not sure how many people that use Vim actually know or care about
xxd. For those that do, manually installing the package (now that it
has its own) is pretty easy.

Other than a menu item that uses xxd, there's nothing else in Vim that
directly uses it.

I guess I can add the Recommends to (neo)vim so there's a common
baseline, and people can uninstall if they don't want it.

Cheers,
--
James
GPG Key: 4096R/91BF BF4D 6956 BD5D F7B7 2D23 DFE6 91AE 331B A3DB

[RjY]

James McCoy wrote:
>I'm not sure how many people that use Vim actually know or care about
>xxd. For those that do, manually installing the package (now that it
>has its own) is pretty easy.
>
>Other than a menu item that uses xxd, there's nothing else in Vim that
>directly uses it.
>
>I guess I can add the Recommends to (neo)vim so there's a common
>baseline, and people can uninstall if they don't want it.

Fair enough. If that is the case I defer to your better judgement. May I
withdraw the request? I see now it is unnecessary. Please do not add any
extra unnecessary package relationships. I would feel terribly guilty if
you did. Sorry to waste your time. Thank you for your work on vim
packaging.