On 01/19/2010 09:53 AM, Bruce Dubbs wrote: > Randy McMurchy wrote: > > >> This goes strictly against policies set by BLFS for years. BLFS disables >> optional dependencies, and puts the --disable-whatever on the command >> line. Only in extenuating circumstances have we varied from that policy. >> > I would like to agree here with both Randy and Wayne. I'm not a Gnome > user, so I really can't comment on the specifics, but I think the book > is a bit more useful when the editor expresses an opinion. > > If a recommended dependency is explained, then the user still knows it's > not required and can make a choice. If everything is just optional, > then it makes it slightly harder for a user to decide if the dependency > is important or not. If a user doesn't know, then I think they would go > with the recommendations and end up with a more satisfactory result. > > Well, I have to disagree. A recommendation should not be governed by an editor's opinion, but by necessity. I'd wager that, based on the previous discussion, there should be recommended dependencies on less than 15 of the packages in the book, maybe less. One of the arguments in the previous discussion was "major functionality," but I can quite well argue that "major functionality" cannot possibly be determined objectively.
Allow me to explain by example. However unlikely, using the previous example from this thread, gnome-mount provides facilities for auto-mounting of removable media on hotplug events. One of the other 'minor' functions it provides is the ability to eject a CD. I don't plan to use Gnome Desktop, or hot-plugging at all, but I do like that gnome-mount can eject my CDs in Xfce and it talks to D-Bus which can run post-eject actions in an efficient manor. I realize there is an eject program (which is cmmi), but to use eject, I'd be dependent upon another program to do polling, or wait for it to show in sysfs and then write my own program to do whatever action is required when the CD is ejected. Do I really need to install the 35 (?) other required deps for nautilus to make gnome-mount do what I need it to do in Xfce? There are probably 100 or more examples in the book now (A fairly good portion of them put there by me!). :-) Granted this would probably be the minority of users, but the recommended dependency above is useless to me. Yes, for most users it is probably a good recommendation, but it is still based on opinion of the editor, and that opinion is based on the incorrect assumption that I plan to use Gnome. Recommended should be used very sparingly. If there is any doubt whatsoever, it should be most definitely be listed as optional rather than recommended. If it is a complex package, and the editor adding the dependency feels that there should be more explanation than a parenthetical remark, then we have note and warning boxes to keep people from shooting themselves in the foot. The only real reason I can think of, is if omitting a dependency could cause harm to your system, or breakage of existing packages. Possibly otherwise, a dependent package *must* have a specific configuraton based on whether or not a dep is installed, but even still, both configurations can be provided. I've used the latter for justification of a recommended dependency in the past (system sqlite for Mozilla products). I should probably pull those, and add a warning. Maybe I won't install anything else that needs sqlite. -- DJ Lucas -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content, and is believed to be clean. -- http://linuxfromscratch.org/mailman/listinfo/blfs-book FAQ: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/faq.html Unsubscribe: See the above information page
