Package Dependcies List on Techbase

[David Jarvie]

On Tue, May 8, 2012 1:07 pm, Allen Winter wrote:
>> On Tuesday 08 May 2012 6:55:01 AM David Jarvie wrote:
>> On Mon, May 7, 2012 4:36 pm, Allen Winter wrote:
>> > Howdy,
>> >
>> > I started putting the list of package dependences (arranged by module)
>> > onto Techbase.
>> > http://techbase.kde.org/Getting_Started/Build/Requirements
>> >
>> > The tables on the subpages there are generated by a perl program I
>> wrote.
>> > That program reads the CMakeLists.txt files inside a module and
>> > generates wiki content
>> > I then copy+paste into Techbase.
>> >
>> > Please review for accuracy.
>
>> 2) Is QtDeclarative actually REQUIRED for kdepim? Isn't it only required
>> in order to build mobile apps? If so, it should be marked as Optional.
>> Are there any other dependencies which are similarly marked as Required,
>> when in fact they are optional?
>>
> Well, I'm not planning to write a CMakeLists.txt parser.
> So I'm not planning to handle CMake conditionals.
> But I can add hacks as needed.
>
> In the case of QtDeclarative, the comment says that it is needed for
> Mobile.
> Making sure we have useful comments and descriptions can certainly help
> too.

Yes, the comment says that it is for mobile, but "Required" is a strong
term, and I don't think the comment in its current form makes it clear
enough that "Required" might not actually mean what it says. In this
particular example, QtDeclarative will not be needed for someone building
for the desktop. This will be the default build option for many people, so
I think it needs to be stated more explicitly that "Required" may actually
mean "Optional".

I can appreciate that you may not have time to write a parser for cmake
conditionals. But if conditional dependencies are going to be listed as
"Required", I think there should be a clear statement at the top of the
page that "Required" doesn't necessarily mean what it says, and may mean
optional, depending on what conditional settings are used.

-- 
David Jarvie.
KDE developer.
KAlarm author - http://www.astrojar.org.uk/kalarm