Bug#798762: Lintian tag pre-depends-directly-on-multiarch-support too much debhelper-centric

[Santiago Vila <sanvila@unex.es>]

Package: lintian
Version: 2.5.36.1

One of the packages I maintain (gettext) has this as an error, no less:

E pre-depends-directly-on-multiarch-support

The explanation says that I should use "Pre-Depends: ${misc:Pre-Depends}" instead.
Oh, well, but my package does not even use debhelper!

This is like saying that I should use debhelper and tagging it as an *error*.

Well, maybe I should, but if that's the intention, why don't just
create a lintian error saying "package does not use debhelper"?

Last time I checked, use of helper packages was an optional thing, not
mandated by policy. Sure, they are useful and desirable and all that,
but not something that should be mandated by using lintian checks.

A Pre-Depends on multiarch-support should not be an error by itself,
unless we have already decided that a stable release has happened and
we don't need the predepends anymore, in which case the error should
be that we don't need the predepends anymore.

So, this lintian warning should be reserved for packages using
debhelper, which is where the recommendation of using
${misc:Pre-Depends} really makes sense. The current check in its
current state is completely biased.

Thanks.