[Fedora-packaging] Static-only library: clarification

[Jussi Lehtola]

On Fri, 2009-10-02 at 19:09 -0400, Michel Alexandre Salim wrote:
> I'm currently reviewing a request for Telepathy-Qt4, which currently
> only provides a static library:
> 
> https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=520663
> 
> It seems to me there are two different options:
> - rename package to telepathy-qt4-static -- might cause administrative
> hassle if and when upstream enables dynamically-linked libraries

This is not really an option. (You, too, can patch the software to build
dynamically instead; it often is the least path of resistance.)

> - keep it as before, and just leave the main package empty. Make
> -devel virtually Provides: -static.

AFAIK this is what is usually done in case there are no shared
libraries. Of course the static library can be put in a separate -static
package, but then one would have to make the -devel package require it
in any case if there is no shared library available..?

>   Should the -doc subpackage depend on -devel? Should it be called
> -devel-doc or -static-doc, or just -doc?

In 99.9% of the cases, plain -doc will do. I would break it in parts
only if the documentation is ridiculously big, say, like kdelibs-apidocs
(281MB compressed, 628MB uncompressed, and still it's in one package!!).

That is: if a user bothers to install -doc separately, then it's assumed
that s/he wants to get all the documentation, and is not bothered if
there's a bit of something extra on the side.
-- 
Jussi Lehtola
Fedora Project Contributor
jussilehtola at fedoraproject.org