Bug#1141909: tech-ctte: dh_installtmpfiles-generated dependencies

On Mon, 13 Jul 2026 at 16:27:37 +0200, Helmut Grohne wrote:
>Let me raise an argument against making [systemd-tmpfiles] essential.
>Essential packages
>must work at all times in an unpacked state. It is known that packages
>that link libsystemd0 (e.g. systemd) do not always work during upgrades.

Do you mean: packages that link libsystemd-shared, e.g. systemd?

libsystemd0 (libsystemd.so.0) is an ordinary boring shared library like 
zlib or whatever, but libsystemd-shared is a code reuse mechanism for 
tightly-coupled systemd packages (libsystemd-core-261.so and 
libsystemd-shared-261.so, as of v261).

If you mean libsystemd-shared, then, yes, that's a compelling argument 
for why systemd.deb is OK to pull in at Priority: required but not OK to 
be transitively Essential.

     smcv