On Tue, 19 Aug 2003 paulporter-wGFJ6LvcMHJKwMsVqopc/[email protected] wrote:
> My complaint is with the way applications are distributed in Linux. This
> business of getting the application then when you try to install it you
> learn that there are dependencies that you have to go find, and then guess
> what one of those dependencies has dependencies of it's own that must be
> found and installed before you can load that dependence, and there are
> four different versions of a dependence so which one does your application
> require? This is just insane! If an application needs dependencies then
> they need to be distributed with the program.
In principle, I agree, if and only if, the dependencies are distributed as
seperate packages (see freshrpms.net for an example of this - all the
dependencies required by a given package can be satisfied by a) packages
available in the RH distro the given package is intended for or b) other
packages on freshrpms.net).
The alternative would be to go to a Windows-type approach where applications
can upgrade any system libraries they think they need to, with all that
entails for system (un)reliability and (in)stability.
So to third party packagers attempting to cater for newbies out there,
please either:
a) rely upon distro-supplied packages wherever possible
b) use well-packaged alternatives, such as those on freshrpms.net
c) package any others yourself (in such a way as to fit in properly with the
rest of the distro) and link to them from the same download page.
d) optionally, supply in install.sh for newbies that installs needed
packages using the native package management tools for the distro
concerned.
In all cases, documenting the packages that your package needs should be
considered the Right Thing To Do. Supplying a single binary RPM (or tar.gz,
or dpkg for that matter) IMHO causes more problems than it solves. Supplying
src.rpms (or the equivalent dpkg) *is* useful, and folks who know what to do
with them won't have any problems with dependencies.
I think that's a fair request, and might stem the flow of "dependency hell"
posts from newbies. Newbies who try and build packages from source or
mix-and-match packages from different distros get what they deserve, IMHO.
> Paul
Best Regards,
Alex.
--
Alex Butcher Brainbench MVP for Internet Security: www.brainbench.com
Bristol, UK Need reliable and secure network systems?
PGP/GnuPG ID:0x271fd950 <http://www.assursys.com/>
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