diff --git a/lib/functions/compilation/debs.sh b/lib/functions/compilation/debs.sh
index a35b10e4d..a34d794ce 100644
--- a/lib/functions/compilation/debs.sh
+++ b/lib/functions/compilation/debs.sh
@@ -224,6 +224,8 @@ compile_plymouth_theme_armbian() {
 		"${tmp_dir}/${plymouth_theme_armbian_dir}"/DEBIAN/
 	chmod 755 "${tmp_dir}/${plymouth_theme_armbian_dir}"/DEBIAN/{postinst,prerm,postrm}
 
+	# this requires `imagemagick`
+
 	convert -resize 256x256 \
 		"${SRC}"/packages/plymouth-theme-armbian/armbian-logo.png \
 		"${tmp_dir}/${plymouth_theme_armbian_dir}"/usr/share/plymouth/themes/armbian/bgrt-fallback.png
diff --git a/lib/functions/general/downloads.sh b/lib/functions/general/downloads.sh
index 809afaefb..8ad50001d 100644
--- a/lib/functions/general/downloads.sh
+++ b/lib/functions/general/downloads.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 function get_urls() {
 	local catalog=$1
 	local filename=$2
-
+	
+	# this uses `jq` hostdep
 	case $catalog in
 		toolchain)
 			local CCODE=$(curl --silent --fail https://dl.armbian.com/geoip | jq '.continent.code' -r)
diff --git a/lib/functions/host/basic-deps.sh b/lib/functions/host/basic-deps.sh
index 3ebdd8c93..1e9910009 100644
--- a/lib/functions/host/basic-deps.sh
+++ b/lib/functions/host/basic-deps.sh
@@ -32,8 +32,8 @@ function prepare_host_basic() {
 		fi
 
 		local sudo_prefix="" && is_root_or_sudo_prefix sudo_prefix # nameref; "sudo_prefix" will be 'sudo' or ''
-		display_alert "Updating and installing basic packages on host" "${sudo_prefix}: ${install_pack}"
-		run_host_command_logged "${sudo_prefix}" DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get -o "Dpkg::Use-Pty=0" -qq update
+		display_alert "Updating and installing basic packages on host ${sudo_prefix}" "${install_pack}"
+		run_host_command_logged "${sudo_prefix}" DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get -o "Dpkg::Use-Pty=0" -q update
 		run_host_command_logged "${sudo_prefix}" DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get -o "Dpkg::Use-Pty=0" install -qq -y --no-install-recommends $install_pack
 	else
 		display_alert "basic-deps are already installed on host" "nothing to be done" "debug"
diff --git a/lib/functions/host/prepare-host.sh b/lib/functions/host/prepare-host.sh
index a160372cf..9c2e703c7 100644
--- a/lib/functions/host/prepare-host.sh
+++ b/lib/functions/host/prepare-host.sh
@@ -233,19 +233,27 @@ function adaptative_prepare_host_dependencies() {
 		display_alert "Using passed-in target_arch" "${target_arch}" "debug"
 	fi
 
+	# @TODO: move to extensions:
+	# btrfs-progs # @TODO: only needed if doing brtfs // causes initramfs rebuild
+	# cryptsetup - @TODO: this causes host-side initrd rebuild; only required for encrypted root stuff -- move to extension?
+	# f2fs-tools # @TODO: this is un-necessary if not building a f2fs rootfs  // causes initramfs rebuild
+	# crossbuild-essential-arm64 @TODO: JetHub needs a c++ compiler, add "crossbuild-essential-arm64" there or ext
+
 	#### Common: for all releases, all host arches, and all target arches.
 	declare -a -g host_dependencies=(
-		# big bag of stuff from before; alpha ordering, one letter per line
-		acl aptly
-		bc binfmt-support bison btrfs-progs busybox
-		build-essential # @TODO: this includes parts of the toolchain for native builds. what if we're not doing native builds?
-		ca-certificates ccache cpio cryptsetup
-		debian-archive-keyring debian-keyring debootstrap device-tree-compiler dialog dirmngr dosfstools dwarves
-		f2fs-tools fakeroot flex
+		# big bag of stuff from before
+		bc binfmt-support
+		bison
+		### build-essential # Composed of: libc6-dev make dpkg-dev gcc g++, we don't need g++ (C++ compiler)
+		libc6-dev make dpkg-dev gcc # build-essential, without g++ 
+		ca-certificates ccache cpio
+		debootstrap device-tree-compiler dialog dirmngr dosfstools
+		dwarves # dwarves has been replaced by "pahole" and is now a transitional package
+		fakeroot flex
 		gawk gnupg gpg
-		imagemagick # @TODO: why? this is huge.
-		jq          # @TODO: why? what uses this?
-		kmod
+		imagemagick # required for boot_logo, plymouth: converting images / spinners
+		jq          # required for parsing JSON, specially rootfs-caching related.
+		kmod        # this causes initramfs rebuild, but is usually pre-installed, so no harm done unless it's an upgrade
 		libbison-dev libelf-dev libfdt-dev libfile-fcntllock-perl libmpc-dev libfl-dev liblz4-tool
 		libncurses-dev libssl-dev libusb-1.0-0-dev
 		linux-base locales
@@ -254,9 +262,9 @@ function adaptative_prepare_host_dependencies() {
 		patchutils pkg-config pv
 		qemu-user-static
 		rsync
-		swig
-		u-boot-tools udev uuid-dev
-		whiptail # @TODO: why? we use dialog...
+		u-boot-tools
+		udev # causes initramfs rebuild, but is usually pre-installed.
+		uuid-dev
 		zlib1g-dev
 
 		# by-category below
@@ -291,9 +299,6 @@ function adaptative_prepare_host_dependencies() {
 	### ARCH
 	declare wanted_arch="${target_arch:-"all"}"
 
-	# @TODO: armbian-oleg: crossbuild-essential-xxxx is "too much junk"
-	# @TODO: rpardini: we do have usages of the C++ compiler, eg, JetHub. Turn those into extensions, with their own deps.
-
 	if [[ "${wanted_arch}" == "amd64" || "${wanted_arch}" == "all" ]]; then
 		host_dependencies+=("gcc-x86-64-linux-gnu") # from crossbuild-essential-amd64
 	fi
@@ -335,7 +340,6 @@ function adaptative_prepare_host_dependencies() {
 }
 
 function install_host_dependencies() {
-	display_alert "Installing build dependencies"
 	display_alert "Installing build dependencies" "$*" "debug"
 
 	# don't prompt for apt cacher selection. this is to skip the prompt only, since we'll manage acng config later.
diff --git a/lib/functions/rootfs/boot_logo.sh b/lib/functions/rootfs/boot_logo.sh
index 9df72d2e9..dd2e05b3c 100644
--- a/lib/functions/rootfs/boot_logo.sh
+++ b/lib/functions/rootfs/boot_logo.sh
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
 # and place to the file /lib/firmware/bootsplash
 #--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 function boot_logo() {
+	# this requires `imagemagick`
+	
 	display_alert "Building kernel splash logo" "$RELEASE" "info"
 
 	LOGO=${SRC}/packages/blobs/splash/logo.png
diff --git a/lib/functions/rootfs/create-cache.sh b/lib/functions/rootfs/create-cache.sh
index b8445c126..358c26b55 100644
--- a/lib/functions/rootfs/create-cache.sh
+++ b/lib/functions/rootfs/create-cache.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ get_or_create_rootfs_cache_chroot_sdcard() {
 		if [[ "${SKIP_ARMBIAN_REPO}" != "yes" ]]; then
 			display_alert "ROOTFSCACHE_VERSION not set, getting remotely" "Github API and armbian/mirror " "debug"
 			# rpardini: why 2 calls?
+			# this uses `jq` hostdep
 			ROOTFSCACHE_VERSION=$(curl https://api.github.com/repos/armbian/cache/releases/latest -s --fail | jq .tag_name -r || true)
 			# anonymous API access is very limited which is why we need a fallback
 			# rpardini: yeah but this is 404'ing
@@ -323,6 +324,7 @@ get_rootfs_cache_list() {
 	local cache_type=$1
 	local packages_hash=$2
 
+	# this uses `jq` hostdep
 	{
 		curl --silent --fail -L "https://api.github.com/repos/armbian/cache/releases?per_page=3" | jq -r '.[].tag_name' ||
 			curl --silent --fail -L https://cache.armbian.com/rootfs/list