[Bug 2167087] Re: [FFe] Make busybox and busybox-static co-installable (dropping initramfs-tools support from busybox-static)

[Launchpad Bug Tracker]

This bug was fixed in the package casper - 26.10.2

---------------
casper (26.10.2) stonking; urgency=medium

  * Drop alternative busybox-static dependency (LP: #2167087)

 -- Benjamin Drung <bdrung at ubuntu.com>  Sat, 12 Sep 2026 23:33:35 +0200

** Changed in: casper (Ubuntu)
       Status: New => Fix Released

** Changed in: golang-github-go-debos-fakemachine (Ubuntu)
       Status: New => Fix Released

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2167087

Title:
  [FFe] Make busybox and busybox-static co-installable (dropping
  initramfs-tools support from busybox-static)

Status in bootcd package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released
Status in busybox package in Ubuntu:
  Triaged
Status in casper package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released
Status in cryptsetup package in Ubuntu:
  New
Status in debos package in Ubuntu:
  New
Status in dropbear package in Ubuntu:
  New
Status in golang-github-go-debos-fakemachine package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released
Status in jasper-initramfs package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released
Status in ltsp package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released
Status in miniramfs package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released

Bug description:
  [ Rationale ]

  TL/DR: dracut/initramfs-tools should use the busybox package and not
  the busybox-static package. They were using busybox-initramfs in the
  previous cycle. If we do not change the packages listed below from
  "busybox | busybox-static" to "busybox", initramfs-tools would regress
  (i.e. busybox would not be included in the initrd) when users install
  busybox-static and remove busybox.

  Since ubuntu-standard depends on busybox-static, dracut will use
  busybox-static instead of busybox, because both binary packages are
  conflicting with each other. This is a functional change since we
  dropped busybox-initramfs in favor of busybox this cycle (see bug
  #2157328). busybox-initramfs was just a stripped down version of the
  busybox to be used inside the initrd. busybox-static is a static built
  of busybox which has CONFIG_FEATURE_PREFER_APPLETS enabled.
  CONFIG_FEATURE_PREFER_APPLETS means that if you execute a shell with
  busybox ash, bultin commands (applets) will take precedence over
  installed binaries.

  See https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2026/09/msg00052.html and
  https://bugs.debian.org/1147074 for the full history and reasoning.
  Summary: busybox and busybox-static should be co-installable. busybox-
  static should only be used for manual recovery / corner cases but not
  used by other software in the archive.

  Proposed change:
  * rename /usr/bin/busybox to /usr/bin/busybox-static in busybox-static
  * drop initramfs-tools support from busybox-static
  * change all other software to depend/recommend/suggest "busybox | busybox-static" to just "busybox"

  [ Scope ]

  Affected packages:

  ```
  $ reverse-depends -s busybox-static
  Reverse-Depends
  ===============
  * bootcd
  * busybox-syslogd
  * casper [amd64 amd64v3 arm64 armhf ppc64el riscv64 s390x]
  * cryptsetup-initramfs
  * debos [amd64 amd64v3 arm64]
  * dracut-test [amd64 amd64v3 arm64 ppc64el riscv64 s390x]
  * dropbear-initramfs
  * fakemachine [amd64 amd64v3 arm64]
  * jasper
  * kdump-tools [amd64 amd64v3 arm64 armhf ppc64el riscv64 s390x]
  * ltsp
  * lubuntu-desktop-minimal [amd64 amd64v3 arm64 armhf ppc64el riscv64 s390x]
  * miniramfs
  * ubiquity-frontend-gtk [amd64 amd64v3 arm64 armhf ppc64el riscv64]
  * ubuntu-standard [amd64 amd64v3 arm64 armhf ppc64el riscv64 s390x]
  * udhcpc
  * udhcpd
  * virtme-ng
  * zfs-initramfs

  Reverse-Recommends
  ==================
  * dracut-core
  * e2fsck-static
  * initramfs-tools-core
  * lxc-templates [amd64 amd64v3 arm64 armhf ppc64el riscv64 s390x]
  * open-iscsi [amd64 amd64v3 arm64 armhf ppc64el riscv64 s390x]
  ```

  Package should stay the way (because they are static builds):

  * e2fsck-static recommends: sash | bash-static | zsh-static | busybox-
  static

  Valid dependencies but dropping the busybox-static dependency is
  requested in bug #2167086:

  * lubuntu-desktop-minimal depends: busybox-static
  * ubuntu-standard depends: busybox-static

  Packages that have a hard dependency/recommendation on busybox-static:

  * virtme-ng depends: busybox-static (https://bugs.debian.org/1147076)
  * lxc-templates recommends: busybox-static

  Packages already have busybox as first alternative (where busybox-
  static would need to be removed):

  * bootcd depends: busybox | busybox-static | busybox-cvs | busybox-cvs-static
  * busybox-syslogd depends: busybox (>> 1:1.38.0) | busybox-static (>> 1:1.38.0)
  * casper depends: busybox | busybox-static
  * cryptsetup-initramfs depends: busybox | busybox-static
  * debos depends: busybox | busybox-static
  * dracut-test depends: busybox | busybox-static
  * dropbear-initramfs depends: busybox | busybox-static
  * fakemachine depends: busybox | busybox-static
  * jasper-initramfs depends: busybox | busybox-static
  * ltsp depends: busybox | busybox-static | busybox-initramfs
  * miniramfs depends: busybox | busybox-static
  * udhcpc depends: busybox (>> 1:1.38.0) | busybox-static (>> 1:1.38.0)
  * udhcpd depends: busybox (>> 1:1.38.0) | busybox-static (>> 1:1.38.0)
  * zfs-initramfs depends: busybox | busybox-static
  * dracut-core recommends: busybox | busybox-static
  * initramfs-tools-core recommends: busybox | busybox-static
  * open-iscsi recommends: busybox | busybox-static

  Packages already have busybox as second alternative (where busybox-
  static would need to be removed):

  * kdump-tools depends: busybox-static | busybox
  * ubiquity-frontend-gtk depends: busybox-static | busybox

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