I looked in pkgsrc.txt, and while there is general "split vs. options"
discussion, there is nothing that speaks against options in
meta-packages.  An option in gnome-base to drop a dependency seems less
troublesome than an option that changes behavior, because one can just
add the dependency later with the same result, except in how
dependencies are registered.

Joerg has expressed that options in meta-packages seem unclean or
improper somehow.  Can anyone articulate why?  Does anyone else object
to adding a smb/samba option?