| 2008-02-15 23:03:33 |
Loye Young |
description |
Binary package hint: ubuntu-desktop
All avahi programs and libraries (and its multicast cousin libnss-mdns) should be downgraded to a Suggests dependency (or at most Recommends).
The Debian Policy Manual describes the appropriate uses of the various dependencies:
[quote]
Depends
This declares an absolute dependency. A package will not be configured unless all of the packages listed in its Depends field have been correctly configured.
The Depends field should be used if the depended-on package is required for the depending package to provide a significant amount of functionality.
Recommends
This declares a strong, but not absolute, dependency.
The Recommends field should list packages that would be found together with this one in all but unusual installations.
Suggests
This is used to declare that one package may be more useful with one or more others. Using this field tells the packaging system and the user that the listed packages are related to this one and can perhaps enhance its usefulness, but that installing this one without them is perfectly reasonable
[/quote]
Avahi does not provide any functionality under most circumstances (because the rest of the local network has to be configured for it), and even in circumstances when it does provide some functionality, it's not an essential function. Certainly, reasonable minds can differ on whether it should be installed at all. Many of us in the community (myself included) believe that [avahi / zeroconf / rendezvous / bonjour] is fundamentally a bad idea and should not be implemented at all, but other reasonable minds like avahi. This is exactly the situation for which Suggests is best suited for.
Some in the community are of the opinion that the best solution is to install it, but not enable it by default. From the outset, such an argument essentially agrees that avahi is not an essential or even a strong dependency, which would dictate a Suggests dependency level. Further, avahi-daemon, avahi-autoipd, libavahi-*, and libnss-mdns run processes and scripts that interfere with other programs and make setting up a secure, centrally managed network in a business setting extremely troublesome. It has cost me personally several occasions of spending all night reconfiguring the network of an entire organization, usually when upgrades overwrite configurations.
It's not simply a bug in avahi; it is the fundamental nature of avahi to interfere with the networking protocols. This creates havoc with networks configured for stability and security rather than for ease of use.
Uninstalling the desktop metapackage is not a reasonable work-around because the metapackage ensures clean and automatic upgrades.
While I sympathize with those who want to make the home computer of Mom and Pop "just work" without configuring anything, surely the advocates of avahi can sympathize with those of us who are trying to bring Ubuntu to businesses and organizations.
Happy Trails,
Loye Young
Isaac & Young Computer Company
Laredo, Texas
http://www.iycc.biz |
Binary package hint: ubuntu-desktop
All avahi programs and libraries (and its multicast cousin libnss-mdns) should be downgraded to a Suggests dependency (or at most Recommends). This is of great importance because business organizations are not installing (*)ubuntu because of the presence of avahi and the difficulty involved in removing it from the installation.
The Debian Policy Manual describes the appropriate uses of the various dependencies:
[quote]
Depends
This declares an absolute dependency. A package will not be configured unless all of the packages listed in its Depends field have been correctly configured.
The Depends field should be used if the depended-on package is required for the depending package to provide a significant amount of functionality.
Recommends
This declares a strong, but not absolute, dependency.
The Recommends field should list packages that would be found together with this one in all but unusual installations.
Suggests
This is used to declare that one package may be more useful with one or more others. Using this field tells the packaging system and the user that the listed packages are related to this one and can perhaps enhance its usefulness, but that installing this one without them is perfectly reasonable
[/quote]
Avahi does not provide any functionality under most circumstances (because the rest of the local network has to be configured for it), and even in circumstances when it does provide some functionality, it's not an essential function. Certainly, reasonable minds can differ on whether it should be installed at all. Many of us in the community (myself included) believe that [avahi / zeroconf / rendezvous / bonjour] is fundamentally a bad idea and should not be implemented at all, but other reasonable minds like avahi. This is exactly the situation for which Suggests is best suited for.
Some in the community are of the opinion that the best solution is to install it, but not enable it by default. From the outset, such an argument essentially agrees that avahi is not an essential or even a strong dependency, which would dictate a Suggests dependency level. Further, avahi-daemon, avahi-autoipd, libavahi-*, and libnss-mdns run processes and scripts that interfere with other programs and make setting up a secure, centrally managed network in a business setting extremely troublesome. It has cost me personally several occasions of spending all night reconfiguring the network of an entire organization, usually when upgrades overwrite configurations.
It's not simply a bug in avahi; it is the fundamental nature of avahi to interfere with the networking protocols. This creates havoc with networks configured for stability and security rather than for ease of use.
Uninstalling the desktop metapackage is not a reasonable work-around because the metapackage ensures clean and automatic upgrades.
While I sympathize with those who want to make the home computer of Mom and Pop "just work" without configuring anything, surely the advocates of avahi can sympathize with those of us who are trying to bring Ubuntu to businesses and organizations.
Happy Trails,
Loye Young
Isaac & Young Computer Company
Laredo, Texas
http://www.iycc.biz |
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