Bug#1131136: sysvinit-utils does not need to be in Essential set

[Mark Hindley]

Gioele,

Thanks

On Sat, Apr 25, 2026 at 01:31:05AM +0200, Gioele Barabucci wrote:
> To unblock this specific issue and make it possible to discuss the rest of
> the plan, shall we prepare a case and submit it to the tech-ctte?

Hopefully that is not necessary.  We have an alternative suggestion that could
provide a way through.

The arch independent files currently in sysvinit-utils, namely

 /usr/lib/init/init-d-script
 /usr/lib/init/vars.sh
 /usr/lib/lsb/init-functions
 /usr/lib/lsb/init-functions.d/00-verbose
 /usr/share/man/man5/init-d-script.5.gz

fit neatly within the Description of init-system-helpers.

Description: helper tools for all init systems
 This package contains helper tools that are necessary for switching between
 the various init systems that Debian contains (e. g. sysvinit or
 systemd). An example is deb-systemd-helper, a script that enables systemd unit
 files without depending on a running systemd.
 .
 It also includes the "service", "invoke-rc.d", and "update-rc.d" scripts which
 provide an abstraction for enabling, disabling, starting, and stopping
 services for all supported Debian init systems as specified by the policy.
 .
 While this package is maintained by pkg-systemd-maintainers, it is NOT
 specific to systemd at all. Maintainers of other init systems are welcome to
 include their helpers in this package.

which is also Essential.

If we were to move these files to init-system-helpers, we think it would address
all our concerns about their assumed availability, even in initless chroots and
the like.

We would want to ensure that any modifications required to these files would be
easy to enact and would welcome assurance from the Maintainers of
init-system-helpers that adding another Uploader would be welcomed.

If agreed and once the move was completed, we think this would enable the dropping of
Essential and subsequent change of pidof provider.

What do you think?

Best wishes

Mark