[arch-general] Are base packages assumed?

[Marco]

Hello,

> I recommend putting all dependencies in depends (including base packages),
> as direct dependencies are used by pacman to order updates - i.e. a package
> is upgraded after all of its dependencies. This sometimes avoids weird race
> condition on updates.

> However, we usually do not put packages from base-devel into makedepends,
> although it doesn't hurt to do so. If you build anything from our
> repositories, make sure you always have base-devel installed. I wouldn't
> consider a missing makedepend on pkgconfig a bug, but a missing makedepend
> on anything not in base-devel is definitely a bug.

I recently broke up my system with a pacman -Suy, because it installed
readline 6 and not bash 4 (mirror not in sync yet). If the old bash
had the right dependency (a little 'depend = readline<6' along with
the 'depend = readline>=5.2') or the new readline the correct
conflict, it would not have been a problem.
My point is that explicit, precise dependencies (and makedependencies)
can only improve stability, not only for custom aur PKGBUILD, but in
the base system also (at least when it comes to big upstream
upgrades). So: get used to write down all dependencies, it is a good
habit and IMHO there's room for improvement for it at all levels.

My 2 cents.

Marco