From: Alex R. <sh...@al...> - 2004-03-17 00:37:46
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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, dpe...@si... 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 |