Kind request: fix your packages

[Thomas Dodd]

Michael Schwendt wrote:
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> On Wed, 01 Oct 2003 15:34:32 -0400, Sean Middleditch wrote:
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> 
>>No, you need to actually do the work of the configure script (perhaps
>>you should actually use the app's configure script) - detect the
>>individual bits in the system. Otherwise your package is broken.
> 
> 
> What you describe is a maintenance nightmare. Assume an application
> wants aspell >= 0.50, but distribution B provides only aspell 0.30. A
> versioned build requirement on aspell >= 0.50 won't suffice, because
> the package won't build on B. But there is a configure switch to
> disable aspell support. So, what we can do is either examine aspell
> version somehow, e.g. with 
> 
>   $(rpm -q --qf "%{version}" aspell)
> 
> or check a file like redhat-release.
> 
> You're asking for completely generic rpms where the user, who has
> upgraded a component way beyond the version which was shipped with the
> original distribution, does not need to supply optional rpmbuild
> parameters (such as --define _with_aspell=1) for a src.rpm to build
> _with_ support for that optional component.

Add macros to the spec near the begining for the distros/version 
_you_support. Then include usage in the instruction on building your 
opackage. so they need only '--define RHL7.3=1' , '--define RHEL3=1',
or '--define MDK9=1'. That give you the same result of using 
redhat-release, package or file, and the ability to support more 
distributions at the same time.

Each of the above defines set orther such as _with_aspell_0.3, or 
_with_aspell_0.5. These can then be overridden but the user easily as 
well. So you could more easily build for an older distro with a newer 
version of library.

I think Mike Harris does a really good job of this for XFree86, and the 
kernel spec is getting there.

The spec file should not be doing RPM querries or checking files.
Perhaps I want to build a RHL7.3 RPM on my RHL9 box? If 
/etc/redhat-release is used, I get RHL9 versions regardless. If macros 
are used I can tell rpm easily to default to RHL7.3, use adifferent gcc, 
and alrternate libs as desired.

	-Thomas