[Pkg-virtualbox-devel] Bug#456989: Bug#456989: virtualbox-ose-source: Please change dependency on -ose-modules back to Recommends

[Hilko Bengen]

Daniel Baumann <daniel at debian.org> writes:

> once you start doing things manually (by neither using m-a nor 
> l-m-e-2.6), you should also manually fulfil the depends (equis)

Following the same rationale, one could argue that every user who
wants to build his own kernel should use equivis, too.

Home-built kernels and kernel components are quite common (for
whatever reasons), we should not place restrictions on what our users
can easily achive, in a futile attempt to protect users from
themselves.

> virtualbox needs the module, it is useless and doesn't work without
> it. that's why it is a depends.

It won't start a VM, but you can surely manage VM settings without the
module.

A "Depends:" won't even be of much help to the user who has a -modules
package installed if that package doesn't match his currently running
kernel version. Let's face it: Our dependency system, as good as it
may be, is okay for application software but of limited use for the OS
kernel ant its components.

Cheers,
-Hilko