Debian now installs Recommends by default

Document this and how to disable it using base-installer/install-recommends.

2 files changed, 35 insertions, 3 deletions

diff --git a/en/appendix/preseed.xml b/en/appendix/preseed.xml
index 46606b3b3..46cfd7d52 100644
--- a/en/appendix/preseed.xml
+++ b/en/appendix/preseed.xml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <!-- retain these comments for translator revision tracking -->
-<!-- $Id$ -->
+<!-- $Id: preseed.xml 60603 2009-09-01 17:03:55Z fjp $ -->
 
 <!--
 Be careful with the format of this file as it is parsed to generate
@@ -1143,6 +1143,11 @@ installation. The only questions asked concern the installation of the kernel.
 </para>
 
 <informalexample role="example"><screen>
+# Configure APT to not install recommended packages by default. Use of this
+# option can result in an incomplete system and should only be used by very
+# experienced users.
+#d-i base-installer/install-recommends boolean false
+
 # Select the initramfs generator used to generate the initrd for 2.6 kernels.
 #d-i base-installer/kernel/linux/initramfs-generators string yaird
 
@@ -1334,8 +1339,6 @@ to be used easily on the kernel command line as well.
 #d-i pkgsel/include string openssh-server build-essential
 # By default, packages that are only Recommended by packages installed using
 # pkgsel/include (as opposed to their dependencies) will not be installed.
-# Uncomment this line to install Recommends as well.
-#d-i pkgsel/include/install-recommends boolean true
 # Whether to upgrade packages after debootstrap.
 # Allowed values: none, safe-upgrade, full-upgrade
 #d-i pkgsel/upgrade select none
diff --git a/en/boot-installer/parameters.xml b/en/boot-installer/parameters.xml
index d99bc044b..0d0a0a6d4 100644
--- a/en/boot-installer/parameters.xml
+++ b/en/boot-installer/parameters.xml
@@ -405,6 +405,35 @@ installation.
 </varlistentry>
 
 <varlistentry>
+<term>base-installer/install-recommends (recommends)</term>
+<listitem><para>
+
+When packages are installed using the package management system, it will
+by default also install packages that are recommended by those packages.
+Recommended packages are not strictly required for the core functionality
+of the selected software, but they do enhance that software and should,
+in the view of the package maintainers, normally be installed together
+with that software.
+
+</para><para>
+
+By setting this option to <userinput>false</userinput>, the package
+management system will be configured to not automatically install such
+<quote>Recommends</quote>, both during the installation and for the
+installed system.
+
+</para><para>
+
+Note that this option allows to have a leaner system, but can also result
+in features being missing that you might normally expect to be available.
+You may have to manually install some of the recommended packages to
+obtain the full functionality you want. This option should therefore only
+be used by very experienced users.
+
+</para></listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+
+<varlistentry>
 <term>debian-installer/allow_unauthenticated</term>
 <listitem><para>