[Fedora-packaging] are subpackages required for optional loadable libraries?

Dominik 'Rathann' Mierzejewski dominik at greysector.net
Wed Feb 27 03:17:54 UTC 2008


On Wednesday, 27 February 2008 at 03:55, Toshio Kuratomi wrote:
[...]
> So the questions I'd see us needing to address are:
>
> 1) What are the criteria to split a package into multiple subpackages as 
> opposed to keeping modules in a single/few subpackage.

Plugins implementing the same functionality using different external libraries
(database engine support plugins are a typical example) must be packaged
separately. A developer testing if the software works equally well with all
supported DBEs will just have to install all of them by hand. We'll assume
he's competent enough to do it.

If the plugins do different things, it should be left for the packager to
decide. Meta-packages come handy here (and are my preferred solution).

> 2) When a subpackage is not split, should Requires be used to pull in all 
> of the dependencies or should they be used to pull in none of the 
> dependencies.

All, of course. Otherwise we end up with bugreports saying the plugins
don't work (because we intentionally crippled them).

> 3) What is the default level of functionality that should work out of the 
> box?

That should be left for the packager to decide.

Regards,
R.

-- 
Fedora contributor http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/DominikMierzejewski
Livna contributor http://rpm.livna.org MPlayer developer http://mplayerhq.hu
"Faith manages."
        -- Delenn to Lennier in Babylon 5:"Confessions and Lamentations"




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