Dear Maintainer,

Following a recent discussion on debian-devel@[1], there is a plan to dismantle
the default-mysql-* virtual package construct provided by the mysql-defaults
source package. With the recent releases of MySQL 9.7 and MariaDB 12.3, there is
now enough divergence between the two codebases to warrant dismantling this
metapackage in the Forky (Debian 14) cycle.

This is filed with severity 'normal' as this change is not urgent.

We are asking maintainers to drop any dependencies on these virtual packages:
* default-libmysqlclient-dev
* default-mysql-client
* default-mysql-client-core
* default-mysql-server
* default-mysql-server-core

However, how this is handled in is in your discretion based on the details of
how the package is maintained and tested in Debian. There are mainly three
options:

- Direct switch: The most straightforward approach is to switch defaut-mysql-*
  directly to the MariaDB equivalent (libmariadb-dev, libmariadb-dev-compat,
  mariadb-client, mariadb-server, etc). For example 'Recommends: mariadb-server'.

- Dual compatibility: If the package actively supports both engines and you wish
  to keep an alternative runtime path open for users drawing from third-party
  repositories, you can declare an OR dependency. For example
  'Depends: mariadb-client | mysql-client'.

- Specific constraint: If your package does not work with MariaDB, feel free to
  tailor the package relationships to match that constraint. This is however
  very unlikely as all Debian releases in past decade have only shipped with
  MariaDB, and the open source ecosystem has largely shifted to lean towards
  MariaDB.

This change is targeted specifically for the Forky cycle and does not affect any
existing stable releases.

Thank you for your time and your work maintaining libgda5 in Debian!

[1] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2026/05/msg00161.html

Hello,

This bug has been open for several months. Just wondering if there is any
particular reason it hasn't been done or if it is just in general due to lack of
maintainer time?

This is not urgent, just checking..

- Otto

Hello,

Bug #1137747 in libgda5 reported by you has been fixed in the
Git repository and is awaiting an upload. You can see the commit
message below and you can check the diff of the fix at:

https://salsa.debian.org/gnome-team/extras/libgda5/-/commit/5c9f9f0d4f8ab6717673749c0947b7862e059651
Closes: #1137747
------------------------------------------------------------------------

(this message was generated automatically)
-- 
Greetings

https://bugs.debian.org/1137747

We believe that the bug you reported is fixed in the latest version of
libgda5, which is due to be installed in the Debian FTP archive.

A summary of the changes between this version and the previous one is
attached.

Thank you for reporting the bug, which will now be closed.  If you
have further comments please address them to 1137747@bugs.debian.org,
and the maintainer will reopen the bug report if appropriate.

Debian distribution maintenance software
pp.
Jeremy Bícha <jbicha@ubuntu.com> (supplier of updated libgda5 package)

(This message was generated automatically at their request; if you
believe that there is a problem with it please contact the archive
administrators by mailing ftpmaster@ftp-master.debian.org)
Format: 1.8
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 2026 13:31:36 +0200
Source: libgda5
Built-For-Profiles: derivative.ubuntu noudeb
Architecture: source
Version: 5.2.10-10
Distribution: unstable
Urgency: medium
Maintainer: Debian GNOME Extras Maintainers <pkg-gnome-extras-maintainers@lists.alioth.debian.org>
Changed-By: Jeremy Bícha <jbicha@ubuntu.com>
Closes: 1137747
Changes:
 libgda5 (5.2.10-10) unstable; urgency=medium
 .
   * Update Build-Depends: default-libmysqlclient-dev -> libmariadb-dev-compat
     (Closes: #1137747)
   * Update debhelper compat to 14
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