[Gnewsense-dev] Re: No xv?

[Richard Stallman]

    Not modular at all: There might be another `xv' package one day, which
    has nothing to do with the nonfree xv.

I hope not -- it would be confusing to call a package by that name
if it weren't the xv program.

      Also, any user can setup and
    use unofficial repositories, including private ones, so hardcoding
    package names in apt is asking for disaster.

This problem is easily solved.  If a name exists as a package,
cancel the name from the delete list.

    Not easy, too: it is easier to fix the problem by a simple
    modification to debian/control + rebuild (which _is_ the canonical way
    to fix such issues), rather than patching C++ code and carrying a
    delta for a package from the core Debian toolchain.

I have nothing against solving the problem that way, as long as it is
solved somehow.

But we must not be intimidated by changing programs from Debian.