the binary and a basic set of modules.
</p>
<p>
- As Perl is currently used by such things as
- <file>update-alternatives</file> and some package maintainer
- scripts, it must be priority <em>required</em> and marked as
- <em>essential</em>.
+ As Perl has been part of the essential set for some time and is
+ used without dependencies by such things as package maintainer
+ scripts, <package>perl-base</package> must be
+ priority <em>required</em> and marked as <em>essential</em>.
</p>
<p>
Note that the <package>perl-base</package> package is intended
only to provide for exceptional circumstances and the contents
- may change. In general only packages which form part of the
- base system should declare a dependency on
- <package>perl-base</package> rather than
- <package>perl</package>.
+ may change. In general, only packages which form part of the
+ base system should use only the facilities
+ of <package>perl-base</package> rather than declaring a
+ dependency on <package>perl</package>.
</p>
</sect>