On Fri, 10 Jun 2016 15:27:31 +0200, Emninger wrote:
> When i removed slim i saw the package task-lxde-desktop was removed as
> well. I checked a bit and i saw:
>
> ----
> This package is used to install Devuan desktop, featuring the LXDE
> desktop environment, and with other packages that Devuan users expect
> to have available on the desktop
> ----
>
> It depends on tasksel, task-desktop, lxde and slim. Moreover it
> recommends a long list of software. Is such a package really necessary?
> I'd think lxde as a metapackage already pulls in all what is needed for
> the lxde desktop - also in Devuan. Or are there some hidden
> dependencies on systemd which need to be overwritten?


The task-*-desktop packages are, AIUI, intended to bundle
a "core" DE (lxde in your example) with additional components
deemed useful to the end user by the maintainer. In your
example that would be the task-desktop package, a login
manager (slim), accessibility tools (orca), spell checking
(hunspell, hyphen), an office suite (libreoffice), and various
other tools (synaptic, xsane, ...).

Such a bundle makes it a one-step installation (not only) in
the OS installer to provide the end user with a complete
desktop environment. If you want a somewhat lighter version
you'd simply install the lxde package. OTOH, it would be
sort of overkill to litter the DE package with Recommends
like libreoffice or other bulky applications. So the task
packages are indeed very useful.

That having said, in the case of LXDE, I'd personally wish
for less Depends(!) in the lxde package, and instead adding
those to task-lxde-desktop Recommends(!). I'm thinking about
cruft like galculator, gpicview, etc.

Sidenote: Remember, we plan to create a task-jwm-destop (once
I'm up to speed again), for exactly the reason to not make a
dogs breakfast of the pleasantly lean jwm package. (And to
eventually have it included in the installer, of course.)

Regards
Urban