On Fri, 29 Jul 2005, Declan Moriarty wrote: > For example is gtk-doc, used > by packages for building documentation (vaguely useful) and plenty of > things use it. It seems the sort of thing you would compile early. > > GTK-doc needs OpenJade-1.3.2, libxslt-1.1.12, DocBook XML DTD-4.3 and > DocBook XSL Stylesheets-1.67.2 > > Openjade needs OpenSP-1.5.1 > libxslt-1.1.12 needs libxml2-2.6.17, Python-2.4 and libgcrypt. > DocBook XML DTD-4.3 needs libxml2-2.6.17 and UnZip-5.51 > DocBook XSL Stylesheets-1.67.2 needs libxslt-1.1.12 > > How important are these optional packages? I'm not an IT guru, aware of > what everything does. >
Hi Declan, try sneaking up on the problem from another side! Most people will have zero need for GTK-doc. libxslt, libxml2, Python are pretty much expected for any gnome stuff. Avoid Openjade and OpenSP unless you really need them (e.g. to build kernel documentation - in practice hardly anybody ever builds that). The DocBook, of both flavours, is needed to work with structured documentation - most people don't ever do this, and those who do need to check the versions match what they are going to do. Unzip is a bit bogus here - you'll need it anyway, for mozilla or firefox. But, you really ought to be looking at the current development version of the book, which is heading towards a 6.1 release. > Have people tried either > a). Downloading & compiling everything and if so can you mention > disk spaces involved? I have a 10 gig partition for this, and one or two > tricks up my sleeve, but space is not limitless. > Compiling everything makes no sense - one of the reasons many of us arrived here was because we already have views on which are the best packages for our needs. Having said that, with the exception of OOo and relational databases (on a desktop ?) I find that 4 Gig (plus a separate /home) is more than ample for everything I want. > b). Streamlining your builds to get a reasonable progression? I'm > running your standard pc, I want X, browsers, OO, Evolution(someday) > gnome & kde libs, mebbe gimp, ssh, a database, and a bit more multimedia > stuff than last time, and a good range of libraries. And I don't want to > find I have compiled out features and need to recompile in circles until > everything has all features. > Yes, but you won't like it :) First, you determine what you think you want, and build it. When you discover that functionality is missing, repeat the exercise. After it all works well enough, repeat the process every few months to keep in step with new dependencies. If you're interested, I'll send you my buildscripts off-list so you can see what sequence works for me - the gnome part is even commented for where the things I _don't_ build should probably go! But for new areas you really need to try building the various alternatives to see which you like and which you abhor. The key is to have a reasonable idea of what each package contributes, then keep rearranging the pieces until you're happy. There are a few circular dependencies in the sense that foo improves bar, bar is necessary for baz, and baz can improve the experience of foo. Generally, weigh up the merits of what is optional, then make a decision about what order you'll use. Very few people will notice any deficiencies in these cases. > c) Has anyone a handy process for scanning the book for items with no > dependencies? > > Not me, I do it by hand. Ken -- das eine Mal als Tragödie, das andere Mal als Farce -- http://linuxfromscratch.org/mailman/listinfo/blfs-support FAQ: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/faq.html Unsubscribe: See the above information page
