[CMake and run time dependencies] Re: Do not split QML packages

[Sune Vuorela]

On 2023-08-15, Nate Graham <nate at kde.org> wrote:
> It's fairly common for runtime QML modules to get missed by packagers 
> and result in runtime breakage for users. The more QML libraries get 
> sliced-and-diced into tiny parts, the more opportunities there are for 
> this to happen.

I'm quite sure that we as packagers will stop having bugs in their
packages the same time we as upstream stop having bugs in the software
we produce.

What we as upstream can do to make our lives as packagers easier is to
have a few sane[1] and trustable autotests that ensures at least basic 
functionality.

> In fact, it's for this reason that some of our QML-based apps even 
> specify their runtime dependencies as build-time dependencies. This may 
> not be technically accurate, but it solves the problem by getting 
> packagers' attention when something fails to build.

I've seen that also fail as well, because then they get added to the
build environment and still forgotten in the runtime environment. That
just ensures we get a packaging build time for no real gain.

> Ultimately our goal is to ship quality software to users and I think 
> it's important to not lose sight of that.

I think everyone agrees on that goal.

/Sune
 - who nowadays mostly has a upstream hat, but also has a old debian hat
   hanging somewhere.