Bug#975637: debian-policy: deprecate Rules-Requires-Root other than "no", "binary-targets" in Debian

[Sam Hartman <hartmans@debian.org>]

>>>>> "Ansgar" == Ansgar  <ansgar@debian.org> writes:

    Ansgar> using other choices of "Rules-Requires-Root" than "no" and
    Ansgar> "binary-targets".  The query [1] found two uses:

Can you help me understand how options other than binary-targets or no
were supposed to work/what they make possible?
I have found the policy text in this area a bit opaque.
I'd like to understand what we'd be giving up if we adopt your proposal.

Is this facility not used simply because everyone reads it and like me
goes "huh what does that really mean," and never gets around to thinking
it through?
Or is it an extension point we actually don't need?

Also, how much of the complexity cost you are concerned about has
already been paid and how much of it is ongoing?
Ignore for the moment maintenance in packages like dpkg-dev and sbuild.
I'm basically asking how many new tools over time are likely to need to
care about this complexity if we keep it.
I appreciate that you probably do care about the maintenance costs in
dpkg-dev, but our value functions probably diverge a bit there.