Re: flex is no longer M-A:foreign

[Helmut Grohne <helmut@subdivi.de>]

Hi Wookey,

On Mon, Feb 08, 2016 at 03:26:35PM +0000, Wookey wrote:
> And it is conceptually the simplest for package-maintainers to use.
> (Depend on flex, depend on libfl-dev if you use c++, arches will 'just
> work' with no mysterious :native for unobvious reasons)

Even though it seems we are set on dropping the flex -> libfl-dev
dependency, I think you have a strange measure of simplicity here. What
is easier to get right? "Just depend on flex." or "Depend on flex and if
you use C++, also depend on libfl-dev." The :native only comes into play
if you use flex to generate build tools regardless of how we make flex
Multi-Arch again.

So I still think that my patch is simpler for package maintainers using
flex, precisely because they do not have to think. In fact, nothing
changes for them. It just magically starts working for cross compiling
as well.

At the same time, I acknowledge that being able to reduce installation
sets (by not installing libfl-dev when it is not needed) is an advantage
on its own and may be worth the trouble. Given the significant
additional effort, I'd make a different choice here, but so be it.

Helmut