“recommends” is to “recommendation”, as “depends” is to what?

Question

If BAR depends on FOO – in the sense of “BAR has FOO as a prerequisite” – I can use the term “dependency” for one end of that relationship:

BAR has a dependency on FOO.

What is an equivalent, simple term for the opposite relationship:

FOO is a is-depended-on-by for BAR

I'm seeking a generally-applicable answer, so FOO and BAR are just placeholders for entities.

The noun should work as one of a collection of terms, “FOO is a recommendation for BAR”, “FOO is a suggestion for BAR”.

• BAR suggests FOO ⇒ FOO is a suggestion from BAR
• BAR recommends FOO ⇒ FOO is a recommendation from BAR
• BAR depends on FOO ⇒ FOO is a noun-for-other-end-of-the-dependency-relation from BAR

Note that these terms – “suggests”, “recommends”, “depends” – are not open for me to change. I am looking for the term at the other and of each of those named relations.

Examples:

• The hockey rulebook suggests the Pickworth tie breaker ⇒ The Pickworth tie breaker is a suggestion from the hockey rulebook
• The city guidebook recommends the seven-day rail pass ⇒ The seven-day rail pass is a recommendation from the city guidebook
• The state budget depends on the federal tax concession ⇒ The federal tax concession is a noun-for-other-end-of-the-dependency-relation from the state budget

What term goes in that place in the depends–is-depended-on relationship?

The answers to ““Employee” is to “employer” as “dependent” is to what?” don't apply, because those are specifically about people (and carry all the baggage of that, e.g. parent–child, sponsorship, etc.) that are not generally applicable.

The answers to “A depends on B, is A dependant, or is B dependant?” address the issue of parts of speech, which is not the subject of this question.

What is a noun which describes the relationship from the depended-on side?

Answer 1

Prerequisite, defined by Merriam-Webster as

something that is necessary to an end or to the carrying out of a function

partially fits your need:

BAR is a prerequisite for FOO.

This sentence means that in order for FOO to happen/exist, BAR is a condition that must be satisfied. It does not, however, mean that BAR and only BAR will allow FOO to happen/exist.

Answer 2

I think 'independent' is best here. 'Foo is independent of bar, Bar is a dependent on Foo.'

Dependent is a noun as well as a verb, and could work well here. 'Bar is a dependent of Foo.'

Note: in the US, dependent is both an adjective and a verb. In England (until recently) dependent was an adjective and dependant was a noun. Today it is acceptable in both countries to spell the noun without the 'a'.

The suggestion you provided I don't think works "Foo is a dependency of Bar"

Dependency is the relationship between two things. 'The child's dependency on his parents..." The child is not a dependency, The relationship is.

Answer 3

I'm going to go with contribute or contributor.

FOO is a contributor to BAR.

FOO contributes to BAR.

I believe every dependent is reliant upon whatever is contributed in a dependency relationship. Dependents do not supply that need, but a contributor does.

While contribution doesn't necessarily mean the receiver of the contribution is dependent upon the contributor, in a dependent relationship, the contributor is the only one providing what is needed for the relationship to exist.

Answer 4

BAR has a dependency on FOO can be denoted by interchanging the positions of FOO & BAR as:

FOO has an impact on BAR.

ODO:

impact NOUN
2 A marked effect or influence:

‘The introduction of these foreign organisms can have a devastating impact on marine environments.’

The above example could have been:

Marine environments have a dependency on introduction of these foreign organisms.

Answer 5

As @miltonaut suggests:

I'm really tempted to say that there is no general term, that the relationship must be known so that an appropriate word can be used.

Thus far it seems this is the correct answer.