apt-get install of finch requires X11 (deps wrong)

[True-night]

Binary package hint: pidgin

May be related to 195718?

Package: Finch
#cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=9.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=jaunty
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 9.04"

# uname -a
2.6.18-128.1.10.el5xen #1 SMP Thu May 7 11:07:18 EDT 2009 x86_64 GNU/Linux # (xen kernel)

Description:
When installing finch on ubuntu (originally jeos install), there is a huge list of dependencies, most of which are not needed or wanted (x11 dependencies etc).

Package List:

Reading package lists...
Building dependency tree...
Reading state information...
Initializing package states...
Writing extended state information...
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  acl{a} consolekit{a} cpp{a} cpp-4.3{a} dbus{a} dbus-x11{a} defoma{a}
  finch fontconfig{a} fontconfig-config{a} gconf2{a} gconf2-common{a}
  gnome-keyring{a} gstreamer0.10-plugins-base{a}
  gstreamer0.10-plugins-good{a} gstreamer0.10-x{a} gvfs{a} gvfs-backends{a}
  hal{a} hal-info{a} hdparm{a} hicolor-icon-theme{a} libaa1{a}
  libarchive1{a} libasound2{a} libatk1.0-0{a} libatk1.0-data{a}
  libavahi-client3{a} libavahi-common-data{a} libavahi-common3{a}
  libavahi-glib1{a} libavc1394-0{a} libbluetooth3{a} libcaca0{a}
  libcairo2{a} libcdio-cdda0{a} libcdio-paranoia0{a} libcdio7{a}
  libcdparanoia0{a} libck-connector0{a} libcups2{a} libdatrie0{a}
  libdbus-1-3{a} libdbus-glib-1-2{a} libdrm2{a} libdv4{a} libexif12{a}
  libexpat1{a} libffi5{a} libflac8{a} libfontconfig1{a} libfontenc1{a}
  libfreetype6{a} libgadu3{a} libgconf2-4{a} libgcr0{a} libgl1-mesa-glx{a}
  libglu1-mesa{a} libgmp3c2{a} libgnome-keyring0{a} libgp11-0{a}
  libgphoto2-2{a} libgphoto2-port0{a} libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-0{a}
  libgstreamer0.10-0{a} libgtk2.0-0{a} libgtk2.0-bin{a} libgtk2.0-common{a}
  libgvfscommon0{a} libhal-storage1{a} libhal1{a} libhesiod0{a} libidl0{a}
  libiec61883-0{a} libjasper1{a} libltdl7{a} libmeanwhile1{a}
  libmpfr1ldbl{a} libnspr4-0d{a} libnss3-1d{a} libogg0{a} liboil0.3{a}
  libopenobex1{a} liborbit2{a} libpam-ck-connector{a}
  libpam-gnome-keyring{a} libpango1.0-0{a} libpango1.0-common{a} libpci3{a}
  libpciaccess0{a} libperl5.10{a} libpixman-1-0{a} libpolkit-dbus2{a}
  libpolkit-grant2{a} libpolkit2{a} libproxy0{a} libpurple-bin{a}
  libpurple0{a} libraw1394-8{a} libshout3{a} libsilc-1.1-2{a}
  libsmbclient{a} libsmbios2{a} libsoup-gnome2.4-1{a} libsoup2.4-1{a}
  libspeex1{a} libtag1c2a{a} libtalloc1{a} libthai-data{a} libthai0{a}
  libtheora0{a} libv4l-0{a} libvisual-0.4-0{a} libvisual-0.4-plugins{a}
  libvorbis0a{a} libvorbisenc2{a} libwavpack1{a} libwbclient0{a}
  libxcb-render-util0{a} libxcb-render0{a} libxcomposite1{a} libxcursor1{a}
  libxdamage1{a} libxext6{a} libxfixes3{a} libxfont1{a} libxft2{a}
  libxi6{a} libxinerama1{a} libxrandr2{a} libxrender1{a} libxv1{a}
  libxxf86vm1{a} libzephyr3{a} obex-data-server{a} pciutils{a}
  pidgin-data{a} pm-utils{a} policykit{a} powermgmt-base{a} psmisc{a}
  python-dbus{a} python-gobject{a} python-support{a} radeontool{a}
  smartdimmer{a} ttf-dejavu{a} ttf-dejavu-core{a} ttf-dejavu-extra{a}
  usbutils{a} vbetool{a} x-ttcidfont-conf{a} x11-common{a}
  xfonts-encodings{a} xfonts-utils{a}

Plus more....

I do not need DBus, x11 things, hal, gstreamer......... I don't use X on this machine.

[Terin Stock (terinjokes)]

Tried installing on my 9.04 Ubuntu Server machine and balked at the long list of dependencies.

with "--no-recommends" I get a shorter, but equally as bloatful list:

  dbus dbus-x11 defoma finch fontconfig fontconfig-config gconf2 gconf2-common
  gstreamer0.10-nice gstreamer0.10-plugins-base gstreamer0.10-plugins-good
  libaa1 libatk1.0-0 libavahi-glib1 libavc1394-0 libcaca0 libcairo2
  libcdparanoia0 libdatrie1 libdirectfb-1.2-0 libdv4 libflac8 libfontconfig1
  libgadu3 libgconf2-4 libgnome-keyring0 libgssdp-1.0-1 libgstfarsight0.10-0
  libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-0 libgstreamer0.10-0 libgtk2.0-0
  libgtk2.0-common libgudev-1.0-0 libgupnp-1.0-2 libgupnp-igd-1.0-2 libhal1
  libidl0 libiec61883-0 libjasper1 libjpeg62 libmeanwhile1 libnice0
  libnspr4-0d libnss3-1d libogg0 liboil0.3 liborbit2 libpango1.0-0
  libpango1.0-common libpixman-1-0 libproxy0 libpurple0 libraw1394-11
  libshout3 libsilc-1.1-2 libsilcclient-1.1-3 libsoup-gnome2.4-1 libsoup2.4-1
  libspeex1 libsysfs2 libtag1-vanilla libtag1c2a libthai-data libthai0
  libtheora0 libtiff4 libts-0.0-0 libv4l-0 libvisual-0.4-0 libvorbis0a
  libvorbisenc2 libwavpack1 libxcb-render-util0 libxcb-render0 libxcomposite1
  libxcursor1 libxdamage1 libxfixes3 libxft2 libxi6 libxinerama1 libxrandr2
  libxrender1 libxv1 libzephyr4 pidgin-data tsconf ttf-dejavu ttf-dejavu-core
  ttf-dejavu-extra

[Chris Wilson (notgary-deactivatedaccount)]

Thanks a lot for reporting this, however I am unable to reproduce the behaviour you describe. When I execute 'sudo apt-get install finch', the only package that is installed is the 221kB finch package. Can you please confirm whether or not this still affects you?

[Chris Wilson (notgary-deactivatedaccount)]

Sorry, I didn't realise what Finch actually was when I made my last comment. I've tested the installation on my server (Amazon EC2 with only a few extra packages installed) and this is what I got:

The following extra packages will be installed:
  gstreamer0.10-nice gstreamer0.10-plugins-base gstreamer0.10-plugins-good
  gstreamer0.10-x gvfs gvfs-backends indicator-application libaa1
  libappindicator1 libarchive1 libatasmart4 libavahi-glib1 libavc1394-0
  libbluetooth3 libcaca0 libcdio-cdda0 libcdio-paranoia0 libcdio10
  libcdparanoia0 libdbusmenu-glib1 libdbusmenu-gtk1 libdv4 libflac8 libgadu3
  libgdu0 libglu1-mesa libgnome-keyring0 libgphoto2-2 libgphoto2-port0
  libgssdp-1.0-2 libgstfarsight0.10-0 libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-0
  libgudev-1.0-0 libgupnp-1.0-3 libgupnp-igd-1.0-3 libgvfscommon0
  libiec61883-0 libimobiledevice1 libindicator1 libjson-glib-1.0-0
  libmeanwhile1 libnice0 libntfs10 libogg0 libopenobex1 liborc-0.4-0
  libperl5.10 libplist1 libpolkit-agent-1-0 libpolkit-backend-1-0 libproxy0
  libpurple-bin libpurple0 libraw1394-11 libsgutils2-2 libshout3 libsilc-1.1-2
  libsilcclient-1.1-3 libsmbclient libsoup-gnome2.4-1 libsoup2.4-1 libspeex1
  libtag1-vanilla libtag1c2a libtheora0 libusb-1.0-0 libusbmuxd1 libv4l-0
  libvisual-0.4-0 libvisual-0.4-plugins libvorbis0a libvorbisenc2 libwavpack1
  libwbclient0 libzephyr4 mtools ntfsprogs obex-data-server pidgin-data
  policykit-1 policykit-1-gnome udisks usbmuxd
Suggested packages:
  libdv-bin gnome-keyring gphoto2 gtkam gstreamer-codec-install
  gnome-codec-install libraw1394-doc sg3-utils speex floppyd xfsprogs
  reiserfsprogs mdadm cryptsetup
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  finch gstreamer0.10-nice gstreamer0.10-plugins-base
  gstreamer0.10-plugins-good gstreamer0.10-x gvfs gvfs-backends
  indicator-application libaa1 libappindicator1 libarchive1 libatasmart4
  libavahi-glib1 libavc1394-0 libbluetooth3 libcaca0 libcdio-cdda0
  libcdio-paranoia0 libcdio10 libcdparanoia0 libdbusmenu-glib1
  libdbusmenu-gtk1 libdv4 libflac8 libgadu3 libgdu0 libglu1-mesa
  libgnome-keyring0 libgphoto2-2 libgphoto2-port0 libgssdp-1.0-2
  libgstfarsight0.10-0 libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-0 libgudev-1.0-0
  libgupnp-1.0-3 libgupnp-igd-1.0-3 libgvfscommon0 libiec61883-0
  libimobiledevice1 libindicator1 libjson-glib-1.0-0 libmeanwhile1 libnice0
  libntfs10 libogg0 libopenobex1 liborc-0.4-0 libperl5.10 libplist1
  libpolkit-agent-1-0 libpolkit-backend-1-0 libproxy0 libpurple-bin libpurple0
  libraw1394-11 libsgutils2-2 libshout3 libsilc-1.1-2 libsilcclient-1.1-3
  libsmbclient libsoup-gnome2.4-1 libsoup2.4-1 libspeex1 libtag1-vanilla
  libtag1c2a libtheora0 libusb-1.0-0 libusbmuxd1 libv4l-0 libvisual-0.4-0
  libvisual-0.4-plugins libvorbis0a libvorbisenc2 libwavpack1 libwbclient0
  libzephyr4 mtools ntfsprogs obex-data-server pidgin-data policykit-1
  policykit-1-gnome udisks usbmuxd
0 upgraded, 84 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 17.4MB of archives.
After this operation, 58.0MB of additional disk space will be used.

Nothing related to X11.

[Terin Stock (terinjokes)]

Then why, I ask, is gstreamer needed for a CLI instant messaging application? Seems to be installing a bunch of otherwise unneeded libraries...

[Chris Wilson (notgary-deactivatedaccount)]

Finch is just a CLI for Pidgin.

It uses all the same backends and all of those need their dependencies filling. As such, a lot of garb you wouldn't be able to even use on a headless server gets pulled in.

I don't think there's a clean way around that short of formally separating the two projects and cherry-picking code from the pidgin backends and pulling that into Finch.

You should contact developers at <email address hidden> and bring this to their attention.

Since this is the intended behaviour, I am closing this bug report.

[True-night (hlpimfalling)]

This is not true.

See
http://linuxneophyte.com/compile-finch-on-debian-etch/

You can disable all of these dependencies with a ./configure --disable-gtkui etc.

[Chris Wilson (notgary-deactivatedaccount)]

Ok, you have a point. I'll reopen this report and forward it upstream.

[Terin Stock (terinjokes)]

I'm not sure this is an upstream bug, it seems to me to be more of a bug for the (debian?) package maintainer...

[Charlie Kravetz (cjkgeek)]

Dependencies are determined at the local level. This bug should not have been sent to the upstream bug tracker. Please ask in #ubuntu-bugs on freenode if you are unsure when triaging bugs.

[Chris Wilson (notgary-deactivatedaccount)]

As per comment 9, upstream has closed this bug. My mistake :P

They did however make the following comment

".... the packages are valid dependencies, as finch can link with X
 libraries for some of its optional features and libpurple can use D-Bus.
 Surely, however, most of those packages are only recommended and can be
 avoided by the use of `apt-get --no-install-recommends install finch`."

Perhaps this isn't a bug after all?

[Terin Stock (terinjokes)]

It's still a bug, see comment #2

[Charlie Kravetz (cjkgeek)]

The issue that you reported is one that should be reproducible with the live environment of the Desktop CD of the development release - Natty Narwhal. It would help us greatly if you could test with it so we can work on getting it fixed in the next release of Ubuntu. You can find out more about the development release at http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/ . Thanks again and we appreciate your help.

We anxiously await the results of the original reporters tests to determine if this has indeed been fixed in a valid version. The original report used Ubuntu 9.04, which was EOL on 2010-10-23.

[True-night (hlpimfalling)]

I apologize, I no longer use Ubuntu as I have switched to Debian.

The dependencies involved are only needed for specific features, such as audio alerts, so unless you want to take away those features, which I see as unneeded for a cli chat client, this is not a bug and does not need to be fixed.

It is also only relevant on Server editions, as the live environment already has these dependencies installed.

Thanks.

[Terin Stock (terinjokes)]

I just checked, and yes the (required) dependencies are still there in Natty, again, only relevant in the server editions. So it's still a bug for me.

[Charlie Kravetz (cjkgeek)]

Thanks for reporting this bug and any supporting documentation. Since this bug has enough information provided for a developer to begin work, I'm going to mark it as confirmed and let them handle it from here.

Since finch is a command-line only IRC client, there should be no need for any X11 dependencies. This application does not need to depend on pidgin or any GUI. Please remove dependencies if possible.

Thanks for taking the time to make Ubuntu better!

[Chris Wilson (notgary-deactivatedaccount)]

It seems this issue is already known to Debian. Tracker updated with upstream link.

[Guruprasad (lgp171188)]

This doesn't seem to be an issue on 12.04 release. Should we tag it to mark it specific to some Ubuntu versions?

[Ryan Mooney (rmooney)]

This also does not seem to be an issue in 12.10 as well.

[John Kim (kotux)]

Not an issue at all on 12.04.

[Benjamin Kerensa (bkerensa)]

Upstream (Pidgin) indicates the dependencies are valid and Upstream (Debian) says talk to Pidgin so either way the end result is that the author of the package indicates the depends are valid as such marking this old bug invalid.