Bug#1136306: debian-policy: Proposing new wayland-terminal-emulator alternative and virtual package

Control: reassign -1 debian-policy
Control: retitle -1 Bug#1136306: debian-policy: Proposing new wayland-terminal-emulator alternative and virtual package

Hi!

On Mon, 2026-05-11 at 22:08:35 +0200, Thierz wrote:
> Package: dpkg
> Version: 1.22.22
> Severity: wishlist
> X-Debbugs-Cc: [email protected]

> I was looking for an update-alternatives group for a simple terminal,
> but only found x-terminal-emulator. That reference to "x" seems now
> outdated.

dpkg only provides the mechanism, it does not implement nor defines
alternatives for other packages.

I initially thought this had already been filed in Debian Policy, but
I only see a request for wayland-session (#1004522).

> This is why I wondered if any of these updates would seem useful to you:
> * Add a wayland-terminal-emulator counterpart, so people could benefit
>   the two different terminals
> * Or, mix both x and wayland terminal emulators in a single group named
>   "terminal-emulator"
> * And possibly shorten the group name to "term"?
> 
> Thanks for considering these ideas please :-)

I think it makes sense to have both a virtual package and an
alternative for wayland-terminal-emulator, as using x-terminal-emulator
for wayland ones seems wrong to me.

Thanks,
Guillem