python-is-python3's "Provides" field

[Marcos Alano]

I tried to install Steam official package (from the website, not from repository, which worked fine), but the package depends on "python" package, so I installed "python-is-python3" package which creates the symlink for python command but doesn't provide the dependency, so my ideia is if the package could have a line "Provides: python" so software like Steam itself could be installed (but not necessarily run) correctly.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[d-d-2 (dandromb)]

This also blocks installing the atom text editor in Focal at the moment, as no package "provides" the "python" package, and atom currently depends on "python".

[d-d-2 (dandromb)]

Okay, I just heard back that the "Provides:" is intended to be added before final release.

It's deliberately left out for the time being, to ensure other packages shipped by Ubuntu themselves, in the official repos, don't depend on version-neutral "python".

(Depending on a package that doesn't exist in the repos should be easier to notice, compared to if the dependency was seamlessly handled by "python-is-python3" or "python-is-python2-but-deprecated".)

See: https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-discuss/2020-March/018615.html

[Dimitri John Ledkov (xnox)]

Please note, we plan to add "Provides: python" on the python-is-python2 package only.

And we will not add it on the "python-is-python3" package, because historically .deb fields referred to python2, thus unlikely to be bilingual. Ideally 3rd party packages should depend on "python2 || python (<< 3.0)" to be compatible with any ubuntu/debian releases, or switch to python3 and depend on "python3".

[Marcos Alano (mhalano)]

I agree "Provides: python" must be provided by Python 2 and not by Python 3. 3rd party packages must depend on python3 explicitly. The only question I have is: have you a deadline to include this package? I'm running a newer kernel (5.6) and I must update Virtualbox, but it depends on python package and for now there is none package to provides it.

[Liz Fong-Jones (lizthegrey)]

Fixed by what-is-python (4)