Dependency Refactoring: Replace cockpit with cockpit-bridge to allow minimalist managed-node installs

[nicky1605]

Description: Currently, cockpit-navigator has a hard dependency on the cockpit meta-package.

Why this is problematic: For users managing multiple remote hosts through a single dashboard, the remote hosts (managed nodes) only require the plugin files and the bridge. By depending on cockpit, the package manager forces the installation of cockpit-ws which starts a web service on every managed machine. This violates the principle of least privilege and increases the attack surface on minimalist servers.

Technical Detail:

Actual Requirement: cockpit-navigator only needs cockpit-bridge to communicate with the management node and local tools (rsync, python3).

Current Dependency Tree: cockpit-navigator -> cockpit -> cockpit-ws.

Requested Change: Please update the control file (Debian) and .spec file (RPM) to depend on cockpit-bridge instead of the cockpit meta-package. This aligns with how other modular Cockpit plugins (like cockpit-podman or cockpit-machines) are packaged.

root@crew1:~# dpkg -l | grep cockpit
ii  cockpit-bridge                     287.1-0+deb12u3                         amd64        Cockpit bridge server-side component
ii  cockpit-networkmanager             287.1-0+deb12u3                         all          Cockpit user interface for networking
ii  cockpit-pcp                        287.1-0+deb12u3                         amd64        Cockpit PCP integration
ii  cockpit-system                     287.1-0+deb12u3                         all          Cockpit admin interface for a system
root@crew1:~# 
root@crew1:~# dpkg -s cockpit-pcp | grep -E "Depends|Recommends"
Depends: libc6 (>= 2.34), libglib2.0-0 (>= 2.67.1), libjson-glib-1.0-0 (>= 1.5.2), libpcp3, libsystemd0 (>= 235), cockpit-bridge (>= 287.1-0+deb12u3), pcp

root@crew2: ~# dnf list installed | grep cockpit
cockpit-bridge.noarch                          344-1.el9.rocky.0.1              @baseos          
cockpit-files.noarch                           24-1.el9                         @appstream       
cockpit-system.noarch                          344-1.el9.rocky.0.1              @baseos          
root@crew2: ~# dnf repoquery --requires cockpit-bridge.noarch
Last metadata expiration check: 1:08:38 ago on Tue 27 Jan 2026 12:18:12 AM CST.
/usr/bin/python3
python(abi) = 3.9
root@crew2: ~# 

root@captain:/tmp# dpkg -l | grep cockpit
ii  cockpit                              352-1~bpo24.04.1                         all          Web Console for Linux servers
ii  cockpit-bridge                       352-1~bpo24.04.1                         all          Cockpit bridge server-side component
ii  cockpit-navigator                    0.5.12-1jammy                            all          A File System Browser for Cockpit.
ii  cockpit-networkmanager               352-1~bpo24.04.1                         all          Cockpit user interface for networking
ii  cockpit-packagekit                   352-1~bpo24.04.1                         all          Cockpit user interface for apps and package updates
ii  cockpit-storaged                     352-1~bpo24.04.1                         all          Cockpit user interface for storage
ii  cockpit-system                       352-1~bpo24.04.1                         all          Cockpit admin interface for a system
ii  cockpit-ws                           352-1~bpo24.04.1                         amd64        Cockpit Web Service
root@captain:/tmp# 

root@captain:~# apt depends cockpit-navigator
cockpit-navigator
  Depends: cockpit
  Depends: python3
  Depends: rsync
  Depends: zip
  Depends: file
  Depends: coreutils
  Depends: inotify-tools

root@captain:~# dpkg -s cockpit-navigator | grep -E "Depends|Recommends"
Depends: cockpit, python3, rsync, zip, file, coreutils, inotify-tools

root@captain:~# dpkg -s cockpit | grep -E "Depends|Recommends"
Depends: cockpit-bridge (>= 352-1~bpo24.04.1), cockpit-ws (>= 352-1~bpo24.04.1), cockpit-system (>= 352-1~bpo24.04.1)
Recommends: cockpit-storaged (>= 352-1~bpo24.04.1), cockpit-networkmanager (>= 352-1~bpo24.04.1), cockpit-packagekit (>= 352-1~bpo24.04.1)