On Fri, 2006-02-03 at 05:07 -0800, Steve Langasek wrote: > I've never understood why people feel the need to bundle libltdl in their > sources instead of just telling users to download & install it as a > build-dependency. <shrug>
I can't say for that particular library, but in general there is a STRONG incentive for vendors to prepackage as many dependencies as possible. This gives the vendor control over the version of the dependency, control over bugs, and control over the build procedure, relieving the end user of that burden. The golden rule packaging is to minimise dependencies any way possible (This is a translation of one of Bertrand Meyer's principles of modularity, namely to minimise coupling between modules). Perhaps the situation would different if everyone ran Debian :) But they don't. In any I case I believe Steve has given the correct advice here: "Link against the system libltdl instead of using a redundant bundled copy." Debian has different goals to the upstream developer. Nothing wrong with modifying the build, leaving some parts out, splitting a tarball into multiple packages, or whatever fits best: Debian has a finer grained concept of a 'module' than upstream developers. -- John Skaller <skaller at users dot sf dot net> Felix, successor to C++: http://felix.sf.net -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
