On Fri, Mar 15, 2019 at 04:51:11PM +0100, Helmut Grohne wrote: > Since dpkg will not prevent upgrading of other packages while an > ``essential`` package is in an unconfigured state, all ``essential`` > packages must supply all of their core functionality even when > -unconfigured. If the package cannot satisfy this requirement it must not > +unconfigured after being configured at least once. > +If the package cannot satisfy this requirement it must not > be tagged as essential, and any packages depending on this package must > instead have explicit dependency fields as appropriate.
More to the point: Packages that may have the "awk" role, which is considered both essential and virtual, will definitely never work until configured for the first time, because /usr/bin/awk is handled by the alternatives mechanism, which runs in the postinst. In other words, your proposed patch seems completely ok to me, as it represents (what I think it has always been) Debian Policy accurately. Thanks.
