Re: [java-gnome-hackers] Libraries vs Packaging (1): Linkage

[Philipp H. <phi...@gm...>]

Hallo everyone,

First of all: thank you for a great library. I wouldn't know what to
do without it :-)

I am referring to the issue of "optional dependencies" discussed in
[1]: I can definitely understand the discussed problems: many
developers probably only use a fraction of the built-in functionality.
Reducing dependencies and having optional dependencies is certainly a
must in big projects like this. However, in my opinion, an issue like
this should not stand in the way of making progress and including new
functionalities: Francisco implemented support for App Indicators over
a year ago [2] and even though is works like a charm, it is still not
in the library.

In the long run, I would love a dynamic loader that only allows the
use of classes for which the native libraries are available. For
example, if libappindicate is present, an application may use the
corresponding Java classes. If not, an exception is thrown.

However, to avoid getting stuck in an endless discussion about how to
implement this, I'd suggest to adjust the configure script to allow
choosing libraries at build-time. This is exactly what Serkan
suggested (2011-05-05 07:17). Something like: ./configure
--with-module=libappindicator

That way, if the "default version" in the distros' repositories is not
built with the desired functionality, one could check out the source
of the current stable version (4.0.19) and simply re-compile it
--with-module=...

What do you think of that?

Cheers
Philipp

[1] https://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/message.php?msg_id=27435400
[2] https://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/message.php?msg_id=25397649