On 03/16/2004 01:59:32 PM, Richard Bos wrote:
> just require it! People don't need to pay for gramps neither for =20
> freefont, so what's the deal. Some download time, harddisk space?? =20
> It will save you questions later on, if people start using the plugin =20
> and it does not work....
> I'll require freefonts in my suse gramps rpm.
As I said before, I'm not all that savvy with RPM and how the users =20
feel about extra dependencies. I don't have strong feelings either way. =20
I can see arguments both for and against including freefont as =20
required, but I think Don Allingham is the one to make the RPM decision =20
here, not me. Of course, if you choose to require freefont in suse rpm, =20
that's your decision :-)
On 03/16/2004 02:41:19 PM, dpeterson@... wrote:
> On Mon, 15 Mar 2004, Alex Roitman had this to say:
>> ... It's nice that the dependencies could be overwritten, but maybe =20
>> we're better of by maintaining a list of references to the freefont =20
>> rpms and directing users to install this to get non-latin fonts in =20
>> the print/GraphViz output?
>=20
> I'm with Alex on this one. The "required" field (IMHO) should be =20
> used only for _truly_ required dependencies. I have two problems =20
> with using the --nodeps overriding: first, why should Aunt Tillie =20
> have to know more about rpm than necessary.
That's exactly my point. BTW, it's Aunt Martha in gramps. I think Aunt =20
Tillie was used in recent ESR's rant, but why should we use someone =20
else's aunts if we've had our own for a long time now :-)
> Second, once one begins down the Dark Path of --nodeps, where does =20
> it end? In general, using --nodeps willy-nilly is a sure way to =20
> screw up one's system. Sure, in this case (gramps) overriding the =20
> freefont dependency causes no harm. But, if Aunt Tillie gets away =20
> with it now, what's to stop her from installing an incompatable glibc =20
> and breaking half of the apps on her system?
I think this point can lead to much more immediate problems that the =20
hypothetical glibc install. Gramps really requires key packages =20
(python, various gnome-python2 modules, pygtk2 and pygtk2-libglade). =20
Overriding dependencies may lead to unusable gramps because e.g. =20
libglade is not installed. Respecting dependencies can guarantee that =20
gramps will work with minimal functionality. If we require something, =20
it has to be installed, period. Tweaking the --nodeps is for people who =20
know what they're doing, and those guys should be alright with grabbing =20
and installing whatever they feel like.
> An even better solution might be to use the %post section to =20
> display a message (i.e. "cat extras.txt") that tells the user that =20
> gramps has been successfully installed, and that they may wish to =20
> explore adding package X for improved report output. This could also =20
> (briefly!) describe ReportLab, GraphViz, and other useful packages.
This should be a good approach. But again, I'm not RPM expert, so the =20
above is just my private opinion.
Alex
--=20
Alexander Roitman http://ebner.neuroscience.umn.edu/people/alex.html
Dept. of Neuroscience, Lions Research Building
2001 6th Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455
Tel (612) 625-7566 FAX (612) 626-9201
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