14 DAY TRIAL // Ubuntu release manager Steve Langasek informs the community about some changes happening to build-dependency handling in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) and upcoming versions of the widely used operating system.
According to Mr. Langasek, the Ubuntu development team admits that the process of separating Ubuntu packages between the "main" and "universe" software repositories caused the Ubuntu development to be dragged down because the "main" repo also covered build-dependencies in addition to dependencies.
"For some time now, we've recognized that the process of separating packages between main and universe was causing some drag on Ubuntu development," said Steve Langasek, Ubuntu Release Manager, Canonical. "We expect this to be a fairly uneventful transition, and hope you find the new rules simplify your Ubuntu development work, at least, a little bit."
What will change starting with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
Starting with the upcoming Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) operating system, the Ubuntu development team will offer a more lightweight "main" repository containing only the packages that matter most to end users. Work on this has already started by moving many Ubuntu packages from "main" to "universe."
Also, a new set of rules have been adopted to simplify the Ubuntu app development, among which we can mention the need to update your build environments when creating packages locally also to include the "universe" repository in the apt sources, or check if the delta can be removed when updating packages.
Furthermore, you need not worry about your packages being split between the "main" and "universe" repos, and it's possible to update your main-only package to not be moved to the "universe" archive. More details are available in Mr. Langasek's announcement, so please read it carefully if you maintain Ubuntu packages in "main" and/or "universe."