> How does one package external dependencies that a webstack component > depends on? Case in question: The interactive Ruby Interpretor(irb) is > only barely usable without GNU readline 5.2, and readline is also used > in rails(for script/console). > > The problem is, readline is not packaged in Solaris, at least it wasn't > as of snv_71. > > Does someone know if there are plans to include readline, so that the > Ruby extensions can link to them? Else, should we make a case to add > GNU Readline into Nevada along with Ruby/Rails?
There are plans to include readline although at the moment they are sidelined a bit around concerns of introducing a GPL library into a standard library path such as /usr/lib and what that might mean if someone unsuspecting links against it. One option would be to deliver it under /usr/gnu/lib although a number of us would rather see it appear under /usr/lib. Another option would be to use something like libedit instead. Since I believe that Ruby is available under the terms of the GPL, another possibility is to statically link readline with it. With respect to Rails though, I'm not sure what's the right approach - isn't Rails licensed under the MIT license? dsc
