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So, search as I might, I can't find anything about specifying recommended packages in a spec file.

I wouldn't even consider it possible if I hadn't seen it in the spec file for Mono 2.10.9. It reads the following:

Recommends:     libgdiplus0 >= 2.6

But rpmbuild is definitely complaining about it. I'm guessing it's not something that's actually allowed. Is that the case? Is there another way to recommend some other packages during the install phase?

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  • 1
    Do you mean Requires?
    – slm ♦
    Apr 25, 2013 at 21:40
  • I found this thread from 2004 that discusses Suggests: vs. Recommends: as a way of saying "optional" requires, is that what you're looking for?
    – slm ♦
    Apr 25, 2013 at 21:43
  • Well, 'libgdiplus' is an additional Mono library used for writing GUI applications. In my case, I didn't need it, but if you're going to be using Mono's own UI framework, it needs to be there. The RPM for the created client application should have libgdiplus as a required package, not mono itself.
    – RandomInsano
    Jan 21, 2014 at 21:51

3 Answers 3

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Yes, it is possible, but not on all distributions.

  • Fedora>=24: Weak Dependencies are Suggests & Recommends and Supplements & Enhances
  • SUSE>=10: Suggests and Recommends
  • CentOS>=8. Haven't found references for CentOS yet.
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7

RPM has no concept of "suggested" packages, like DEB has. I've been involved in discussions about this, and the conclusion was that it just doesn't make much sense. "Suggested" for what use? "Suggested" can go from "You might want to look into this too" to "Very unlikely to be of any use without..." Why would you want to need the suggestion? Either it is required, or the user knows what to do. RPM is for fully automated setup, stopping to ask the user if suggested packages should be installed just goes against its basic philosophy.

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  • 5
    You seem to have missed the point regarding "Suggests" and "Recommends" with respect to APT. Debs are just as much intended for "fully automated setup" as are RPMs--even arguably more so. "Suggests" and "Recommends" have well-defined meanings in the Debian ecosystem, and are quite useful.
    – the paul
    Nov 11, 2015 at 21:32
  • There is no need to pause execution to ask the user. You can simply print the fact that the package is suggested, and if you want it, you can install it afterwards (and in a script situation you would add it to the script).
    – Steen Schütt
    Mar 26, 2021 at 11:10
1

You might want to go through the Packaging pages over on the Fedora Project's wiki. I also looked through the wiki topic How to Create an RPM Package and saw no mention of it there either.

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