I have been trying to install xserver-xorg along with just the xserver-xorg-input-* and xserver-xorg-video-* packages required for my hardware. However, no matter what my actual selections were, apt-get always tried to pull in all the depenencies in xserver-xorg-input-all and xserver-xorg-video-all.
So I tried to do it step by step. Some of the dependencies may be met without introducing circular dependencies, such as installing xbase-clients and xkb-data. But as soon as any of the xserver-xorg-* packages are involved, various circular dependencies cause apt-get to install many more packages than actually required or desired. I have read through #362313. I don't follow the argument that drivers should depend on the server, even if they would be of little use otherwise. This would be like having libraries depend on the programs that make use of them. Libraries installed but not used by other packages are orphaned and may be removed any time. Same with drivers for the xserver. Of couse, there must be drivers for the server to work, but which ones depends on the hardware. "Recommends" to take care of this were already mentioned in #362313. Circular dependencies between two packages make logically absolutely no sense. As any of such two packages may never be install without the other, they might as well be merged into a single package. This is not to say that xserver-xorg and xserver-xorg-core should be merged but that their circular dependencies should be removed. This still applies to xserver-xorg-core (2:1.2.0-4) from experimental. Any circular dependencies between two or more packages should be avoided wherever possible. In case of xserver-xorg* I don't see a reason why circular dependencies should be required. Here is my suggestion (dependencies of packages other than xserver-xorg-* are not included): xserver-xorg Depends: xserver-xorg-core, xserver-xorg-video-1.0, xserver-xorg-input, ... Recommends: xserver-xorg-video-all, xserver-xorg-input-all, ... xserver-xorg-core Depends: ... xserver-xorg-video-* Depends: (empty) Provides: xserver-xorg-video-1.0 xserver-xorg-input-* Depends: (empty) Provides: xserver-xorg-input None of xserver-xorg-video-* and xserver-xorg-input-* should depend on xserver-xorg. This provides a clean dependency hierarchy. Drivers required to provide a working xserver for most machines are pulled in via "Recommends". At the same time this should allow individual drivers to be pulled in with apt-get to fulfill dependencies for a minimal install for existing hardware. Hope I haven't overlooked something important. Regards Andreas -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]