Bug#690849: downgrade fontconfig-config dependencies on fonts to Recommends:
> On 2012-11-11 03:30:58 +0700, Ivan Shmakov wrote: […] > It took longer than I expected, but I can confirm that neither > extract(1), nor pdftotext(1) (both depending on libpoppler19 and thus > fontconfig-config) require fonts to operate. (I presume that GNUnet > “non-GUI” processes don't use fonts, either.) FTR, I believe that GNUnet documentation at one point explicitly recommended that separate binary packages are provided by distributions, so that, for instance, the core server(s) would /not/ depend on libextract (and thus libpoppler and libfontconfig.) So far this recommendation isn’t implemented in Debian. […] > To stress it out: due to the libpoppler19 ← libfontconfig1 > dependency, the latter may become a requirement on systems deployed > to deal with PDF files (as in: search engine indexing.) Given that > such a system may itself reside on a “virtual”, resource-limited > (as in: a couple of GiB's of filesystem space) server, it may be > entirely reasonable to try to save every MiB of the available FS space. > That being said, ttf-bitstream-vera takes less than a MiB (as per > Installed-Size:), so this issue could certainly be deferred until > Wheezy is released. (And then perhaps the considerations above would > no longer be of much importance.) These days, my primary concern is the amount of code installed on my systems, as that contributes heavily to their respective ‘attack surfaces’. With ttf-bitstream-vera being a pure data package, which apparently knew no security issues (and none I’d personally expect), I have no qualms about having it installed on those of my systems where more comprehensive font packages aren’t needed. As such, and unless some further work is planned on this issue, I suggest it be tagged wontfix. -- FSF associate member #7257 http://am-1.org/~ivan/
Bug#690849: downgrade fontconfig-config dependencies on fonts to Recommends:
Control: severity -1 wishlist
Control: tag -1 + patch
Ivan Shmakov oneing...@gmail.com writes:
Keith Packard kei...@keithp.com writes:
[…]
fontconfig isn't useful without at least one font installed on the
system.
Which may've been indicating that the libpoppler19 dependency on
libfontconfig1 is unwarranted. Obviously, there's no easy way
to avoid such a dependency.
Many fontconfig using applications will crash if there aren't any
fonts on the system at all.
ACK, thanks for the clarification.
However, it may be considered a bug in those applications, and
downgrading the dependency to Recommends: may still be justified as
long as there's a considerable amount of software (depending directly
or indirectly on fontconfig) that remains useful even in the absence
of any fonts.
Also to note is that recommended packages /are/ installed by
default, so should such a dependency be left unsatisfied, it
would most probably be because of an explicit action of the
administrator.
In the case of gnunet-server, it's using libextractor3 which
provides PDF support, and rendering arbitrary PDF files will require
at least one font accessed through fontconfig.
The point is that, AIUI, libextractor3 is used to extract keywords
from PDF files, and /not/ to /render/ them. Therefore, I'd expect
for GNUnet node to operate even if no fonts are installed on the
system. (I'd expect the same from, say, pdftotext of poppler-utils,
BTW.)
By this weekend, I hope to check if it's possible (and sensible) to
run a GNUnet node (or other software depending on fontconfig) without
any of the fonts installed.
It took longer than I expected, but I can confirm that neither
extract(1), nor pdftotext(1) (both depending on libpoppler19 and
thus fontconfig-config) require fonts to operate. (I presume
that GNUnet “non-GUI” processes don't use fonts, either.)
Consider, e. g.:
$ pdftotext -- \
www.itu.int/ITU-T/studygroups/com17/languages/X.680-0207.pdf \
/dev/stdout \
| head
INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION
ITU-T
TELECOMMUNICATION
STANDARDIZATION SECTOR
OF ITU
X.680
(07/2002)
$ extract -- \
www.itu.int/ITU-T/studygroups/com17/languages/X.680-0207.pdf \
| head
Keywords for file www.itu.int/ITU-T/studygroups/com17/languages/X.680-0207.pdf:
mimetype - application/pdf
mimetype - audio/mpeg
format version - MPEG-2
resource type - MPEG-2 Layer I audio, 256 kbps (CBR), 22050 Hz, joint stereo,
copyright, original
duration - 0m38
mimetype - application/pdf
produced by software - Acrobat Distiller 5.0.5 (Windows)
page count - 146
format - PDF 1.3
$
To stress it out: due to the libpoppler19 ← libfontconfig1
dependency, the latter may become a requirement on systems
deployed to deal with PDF files (as in: search engine indexing.)
Given that such a system may itself reside on a “virtual”,
resource-limited (as in: a couple of GiB's of filesystem space)
server, it may be entirely reasonable to try to save every MiB
of the available FS space.
That being said, ttf-bitstream-vera takes less than a MiB (as
per Installed-Size:), so this issue could certainly be deferred
until Wheezy is released. (And then perhaps the considerations
above would no longer be of much importance.)
Anyway, the patch is MIME'd.
(FWIW, I've used an equivs package, as per the definition
MIME'd, for the tests above.)
--
FSF associate member #7257 np. snusdam.mod
--- debian/control.~1~ 2012-04-16 21:23:27.0 +
+++ debian/control 2012-11-10 20:07:17.0 +
@@ -32,7 +32,8 @@
Package: fontconfig-config
Section: fonts
Architecture: all
-Depends: ${misc:Depends}, ucf (= 0.29), ttf-dejavu-core | ttf-bitstream-vera | ttf-freefont | gsfonts-x11
+Depends: ${misc:Depends}, ucf (= 0.29)
+Recommends: ttf-dejavu-core | ttf-bitstream-vera | ttf-freefont | gsfonts-x11
Replaces: fontconfig ( 2.3.2-2)
Conflicts: fontconfig ( 2.3.2-2)
Multi-Arch: foreign
binSkWxbJEkhU.bin
Description: application/debian-equivs
Bug#690849: downgrade fontconfig-config dependencies on fonts to Recommends:
Package: fontconfig-config Version: 2.9.0-7 Unfortunately, the current fontconfig-config dependencies on fonts lead to the necessity of having one of such fonts installed on an otherwise “headless” systems. Consider, e. g., the following dependency chain: gnunet-server ← libextractor3 ← libpoppler19 ← libfontconfig1 ← fontconfig-config ← ttf-dejavu-core | ttf-bitstream-vera | ttf-freefont | gsfonts-x11 Thus, there's no way (short of introducing an equivs package, or the like) to set up a GNUnet node without also installing a never to be used scalable font package. Unless there's a specific problem with that, please downgrade the dependency on the font packages to Recommends:. TIA. -- FSF associate member #7257 -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-bugs-dist-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
Bug#690849: downgrade fontconfig-config dependencies on fonts to Recommends:
Ivan Shmakov oneing...@gmail.com writes: Unless there's a specific problem with that, please downgrade the dependency on the font packages to Recommends:. fontconfig isn't useful without at least one font installed on the system. Many fontconfig using applications will crash if there aren't any fonts on the system at all. In the case of gnunet-server, it's using libextractor3 which provides PDF support, and rendering arbitrary PDF files will require at least one font accessed through fontconfig. -- keith.pack...@intel.com pgp3Q7ryS5zG8.pgp Description: PGP signature
Bug#690849: downgrade fontconfig-config dependencies on fonts to Recommends:
Keith Packard kei...@keithp.com writes: Ivan Shmakov oneing...@gmail.com writes: Unless there's a specific problem with that, please downgrade the dependency on the font packages to Recommends:. fontconfig isn't useful without at least one font installed on the system. Many fontconfig using applications will crash if there aren't any fonts on the system at all. ACK, thanks for the clarification. However, it may be considered a bug in those applications, and downgrading the dependency to Recommends: may still be justified as long as there's a considerable amount of software (depending directly or indirectly on fontconfig) that remains useful even in the absence of any fonts. In the case of gnunet-server, it's using libextractor3 which provides PDF support, and rendering arbitrary PDF files will require at least one font accessed through fontconfig. The point is that, AIUI, libextractor3 is used to extract keywords from PDF files, and /not/ to /render/ them. Therefore, I'd expect for GNUnet node to operate even if no fonts are installed on the system. (I'd expect the same from, say, pdftotext of poppler-utils, BTW.) By this weekend, I hope to check if it's possible (and sensible) to run a GNUnet node (or other software depending on fontconfig) without any of the fonts installed. -- FSF associate member #7257 -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-bugs-dist-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
