[Fedora-packaging] "Explicit requires" and "requiring base package"
Rex Dieter
rdieter at math.unl.edu
Wed Sep 2 19:10:25 UTC 2009
Ville Skyttä wrote:
> Ping, any comments on this?
>
> On Saturday 02 May 2009, Ville Skyttä wrote:
>> https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Packaging/Guidelines#Explicit_Requires
>> Packages must not contain explicit Requires on libraries except when
>> absolutely necessary. [...]
>>
>> https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Packaging/Guidelines#Requiring_Base_Package
>> Devel packages must require the base package using a fully versioned
>> dependency: Requires: %{name} = %{version}-%{release}. Usually,
>> subpackages other than -devel should also require the base package using a
>> fully versioned dependency.
>>
>> I think these two guidelines or their wording are more or less in conflict
>> these days. Most -devel packages do not "absolutely necessarily" need an
>> explicit dependency on the base package because rpm automatically adds
>> soname dependencies from symlinks in -devel to the corresponding shared lib
>> in the main/lib package. Ditto, many cases of other non-devel subpackages
>> get automatic lib soname dependencies to the main/lib package.
I dont agree with this assertion. rpm may have implicit dependencies on
base pkgs (from -devel ones) but these often aren't enough to ensure
things "just work". This falls under the "except when ... necessary"
section of the Explict_Requires guideline, imo.
-- Rex
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