[Fedora-packaging] Re: Proposal to limit file deps

[Axel Thimm]

On Thu, Dec 21, 2006 at 12:59:37PM +0200, Panu Matilainen wrote:
> On Wed, 20 Dec 2006, Toshio Kuratomi wrote:
> >'''SHOULD''': If the package has file dependencies outside
> >of /etc, /bin, /sbin, /usr/bin, or /usr/sbin consider requiring the
> >package which provides the file instead of the file itself.
> >
> >Using file dependencies outside of /etc, /bin, /sbin, /usr/bin,
> >or /usr/sbin requires yum (and other depsolvers using the repomd format)
> >to download and parse a large xml file looking for the dependency.
> >Helping the depsolvers avoid this processing by depending on the package
> >instead of the file saves our end users a lot of time.
> 
> Just FWIW, this doesn't actually help smart and apt at all,

Why? If unneccessary file dependencies are removed the files sizes get
smaller. Of course, yum has the larger benefits, but apt/smart/etc
would benefit from say cutting off half of the file dependencies, too.

The only problem I see is to identify when some file dependencies were
used "unneccessarily". Using file dependencies was never really
preferred over proper package depedencies, so most likely the packager
really wanted file dependencies when he explcitely used them.

That means w/o a proper analysis of what we currently have, we
shouldn't simply ban them. Instead an analysis would show why
packagers used this method and whether we can offer better workarounds
for what they wanted to achieve.
-- 
Axel.Thimm at ATrpms.net
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 189 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listman.redhat.com/archives/fedora-packaging/attachments/20061221/50bca471/attachment.sig>