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I'm really tired of hunting down all the APT "dependency" problems... There are already 7 tags that are used for something that ultimately translates to apt/dpkg in the "dependency problem" context:

  • which uses aptdaemon as backend which calls python-apt which uses gasp libapt for solving dependencies!
  • which uses python-distupgrade which uses python-apt... blablabla.
  • .... I will talk about this later. But this is no way related with dependencies issues
  • I believe the first appearance of this tag was about [apt-get] [update], but still, alone doesn't tell me anything about the probable dependencies issues.
  • I believe the first appearance of this tag was about [apt-get] [upgrade], but still, alone doesn't tell me anything about the probable dependencies issues.
  • will talk about it along with package tag.
  • what have this to do with manipulating a package manager to install a package and hitting a dependency issue?
  • losing sanity
  • ARG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why should I follow just so. many. tags!? All of these tags are used for dependency questions... it shouldn't be. They all are more likely to be accurately answered if they have apt tag. The topic is all over the place and the is not helping either.

All questions about is just another layer to any of both (yeah, dpkg has dependencies issues too) or . Is just not useful tag if anyways you need add apt/dpkg to all dependencies question and it actually don't tell me something that a glance to the title I would know anyways.

Summary:

Lets cleanup and remove the and replace all the instances for apt or dpkg (or any other package system if you find them) or just remove it if there's alredy the tag applied.

6
  • I think Tag-dependencies should be Synonyms Under Tag-package-management
    – Pandya
    Commented Jul 3, 2014 at 6:13
  • @Pandya dependencies is ways part of package-management. We need less tags that means many things, no more.
    – Braiam
    Commented Jul 3, 2014 at 6:26
  • I think more tags mean more eyes on the questions, improving the likelihood of an answer from the many who use them to limit the scope of answers they will provide. This is a generic, non-specific view, unrelated to the dependency tag. I've seen questions about creating a deb packaging that I wonder what tags the questioner would use if not for packaging and deb (as an example)
    – Elder Geek
    Commented Jul 4, 2014 at 18:12
  • @ElderGeek the problem is that people that are following the apt/dpkg tags. To see all the questions about dependency issues you have to follow all the tags I posted. Is not an issue of more tags more eyes, is an issue that eyes won't reach the questions they are supposed to. To put it another way, to get all questions about "calc" you would have to follow [libreoffice] [libreoffice-calc] and [calc], 3 tags instead of one to catch all the questions you want to see. It's inefficient and confusing in my eyes.
    – Braiam
    Commented Jul 4, 2014 at 18:21
  • I follow your reasoning and can commiserate on the difficulties this may cause you, However, not all questions under apt or dpkg will be about dependencies. I can foresee questions like "How do I completely remove a package with dpkg or apt... There are thousands of users here that aren't as knowledgeable as those on say UL. You might rotate through the tags, say apt one day then dpkg the next, or apt until done then dpkg, then dependencies, or choose to focus on one of the three if you prefer.
    – Elder Geek
    Commented Jul 4, 2014 at 18:32
  • @ElderGeek I'm not talking about the use of the apt/dpkg tag. All dependencies issues are about a package manager (apt, dpkg, npm, pip, cpan, whatever). I'm saying that all dependencies issues about apt/dpkg should use the apt/dpkg tags. That's all.
    – Braiam
    Commented Jul 4, 2014 at 18:36

2 Answers 2

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I've noticed that you and I often have similar opinions though you tend to ride on the strict side, and I the lax. I don't think these tags are all redundant, but I like the idea of removing the tag.

Tags , , , and are all programs so I think it's fitting they have tags so long as their are questions about them.

Tags , , , and are not something I would ever have made. I don't understand why they were created, but perhaps if I took the time to browse the questions I might discover examples of a need. They do seem popular??? The questions tagged in theory wouldn't have to be tied to Apt/Dpkg though I imagine in practice they are.

The , and [package-management] tags are topics so I think they're fine. For example you could have a software recommendation question about package managers.

The tag is a topic. You could have a question about installing software via Apt, or a question about dependencies in Apt. The first would use and the second . However that's pretty specific, I think there would need to be an excessive amount of apt/dpkg/other-package-manager questions about dependencies to justify creating this sub-topic. Even then I'm not sure it really does anything useful. However their are other sub-topic tags working well for apt like the tag.

Summary:

I don't think all these tags directly equate to apt/dpkg, but I like the idea of removing the tag as it's overly specific. I wouldn't be opposed to the removal of a few of the others listed either.

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I'm a bit confused about the bulleted list of tags. Is this about them or about the dependencies tag? Anyway, most of these tags can ultimately be used well on their own and they are certainly not synonymous with or .

, and might do well being merged into as they're all a little vague.

Your argument that several of these things use libapt is slightly silly. Following it we could merge many tags into something like or . Most importantly though, 90+% people don't have a clue what the relationships between the packaging tools are. That's why these are tagged from the questions' point of view, not their solutions'.

In that vein, isn't adding and to dependency issues a better approach than just chiselling things down to their rawest components? That way you can see it it's both an Apt issue and a dependency issue. People who want to help with dependency issues (without the rest of the Apt world) can do so.

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  • I'm only saying that all those tags are apart of dependencies, being used for dependencies issues through they are far cry from the root of the problem in dependency issues questions. I'm not talking about them specifically, just pointing out that all "dependencies" question have some sort of tag that really doesn't fit. BTW, do not touch package, that tag means the same as deb but we need another name for it. And why are you leaving vague tags live? Is totally opposite of the "sorting questions into specific, well-defined categories" being vague just going against this.
    – Braiam
    Commented Jul 3, 2014 at 12:56
  • What I want to do is clear, in dependency related questions have always an apt/dpkg tag.
    – Braiam
    Commented Jul 3, 2014 at 13:01

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