I was using "optional dependencies" in the sense Arch Linux uses it: they don't impact the build, they are only used at runtime.
From a package declaration perspective, they are merely hint for the user. The main advantage over simply adding them to the description is that the package manager can tell about "optional reverse dependencies". When removing a package that is optionally needed by others, it makes it possible to warn the users if they are going to lose some functionnality for some specified packages. None of `inputs`, `native-inputs` or `propagated-inputs` allow us to do that. -- Pierre Neidhardt Flying is the second greatest feeling you can have. The greatest feeling? Landing... Landing is the greatest feeling you can have.
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