apt source exact-source-package doesn't download the requested source package

[Dimitri John Ledkov]

apt source exact-source-package doesn't download the right source package

when specifying source package, i expect the exact source package to be downloaded.

example:

$ apt source linux-lowlatency => incorrectly downloads linux-meta-lowlatency
$ apt source --only-source linux-lowlatency => is very counter intuitive but downloads linux-lowlatency source package

Please default to downloading exact source package by default first, and offer binary->source resolution separately.

[David Kalnischkies (donkult)]

The idea is that a user will want to request the sources for a given binary package – after all, that is the promise of GPL and co that you can easily get the source for the binary you have installed. So for me at least this binary-to-source mapping is very intuitive and I would be very confused about your intuitive non-mapping.

Any way of handling can result in confusion every time a source and binary package have the same name, but produce/include packages with other names. A prime example used to be 'automake', but nowadays at least that mess was cleaned up.

I don't think changing defaults would help here, especially not after ~25 years of operating in this way. I guess it might be more helpful to detect these collisions and have apt-get print/apt ask the user about it rather than assuming that one way or the other and an option to change it is intuitive for all users at all times.
Or, well, teach package maintainers that these collisions are a horrible idea. Preferably both. (Personally not going to work on either through in the foreseeable future.)

[Julian Andres Klode (juliank)]

As David wrote, the behavior here is correct. linux-lowlatency is a binary package provided by linux-meta-lowlatency, for which you are requesting the source code.