Re: [docs] ubuntu/debian alleged doc-building packages seems inaccurate

On Fri, 19 Jun 2026, Robert P. J. Day wrote:

>
> here:
>
> https://docs.yoctoproject.org/ref-manual/system-requirements.html#ubuntu-and-debian
>
> we are told:
>
>   Here are the packages needed to build Project documentation manuals:
>
>   sudo apt install git librsvg2-bin locales make python3-saneyaml
>     python3-pip python3-venv
>
> i've been building HTML docs all this time on my debian 13 system,
> without:
>
>   - python3-pip
>   - python3-saneyaml
>   - python3-venv
>
> also (as should be obvious), i refuse to install python3 packages
> via "pip", choosing instead to install then as debian python3-*
> packages. so far, it's working out fine.

  after a few minutes of research, here are my observations on what
packages are required to build docs on my debian 13 (and, no, i'm not
sure about any underlying subtleties so i'm not submitting a patch).

  first, so far, i have avoided the use of "pip" entirely, preferring
instead to install python3-* packages. from what i read, the preferred
approach is to install debian packages globally, while preferring to
use "pip3" exclusively inside a venv environment. i'm not going to
comment on that either way, just saying that i've managed to avoid
even *installing* python3-pip3 on this debian 13 system.

  as for packages i don't seem to need, as above:

  - python3-pip
  - python3-saneyaml
  - python3-venv

also, installing the debian package python3-sphinxcontrib.svg2pdfconverter
already pulls in the dependency librsvg2-bin, so that does not need to
be listed explicitly.

  finally, i have not installed python3-websockets, and i can build
the HTML docs just fine.

  if someone wants to do anything with any of that, have at it.

rday