Re: ELF svgalib questions
> I want to start work on the ELF version of the svgalib package soon.
> As far as I can see, the way this is being done for most packages is
> something like this:
>
> aout-libfoo-V.deb
> a.out version
> libfooN-V.deb
> ELF shared libraries
> libfooN-dev-V.deb
> ELF static libraries, include files, etc
>
> Is that right?
Yes, more or less. The basic idea is to put the shared libraries and
any support files in as small a package as possible and also allow
multiple major versions to be installed simultaneously. Everything
else, which is usually static libraries and include files, should go
in additional packages. In theory, the a.out packages should also be
split up like this, but since they are being obsoleted, it may not be
worth doing.
> Which should the contents of /usr/doc go in? If my
> understanding of dpkg is correct then putting it in two packages risks
> it being removed when you remove just one of the packages.
Take a look at my Tcl/Tk packages. The development packages contain
symlinks pointing the documentation provided with the run-time
packages.
> In the case of svgalib there are a couple of configuration files to
> think about. Is it reasonable to put them in both the ELF shared
> library package and in the a.out package, or should I invent a new
> base package?
I'd go with a separate package. In your case, svgalib also comes with
some binaries so you will probably need to create a separate -bin
package like Mike did with ncurses.
> Alternatively I could put them in the ELF shared library package and
> make the a.out one depend on it. (Actually I quite like this one.)
This would work also.
> What about backwards compatibility in Depends: lines? I assume that
> the a.out package should have `Provides: svgalib'. Should there be
> any other Provides: lines?
Probably not for the a.out package. For the ELF packages, check out
my Tcl/Tk packages to see how to prevent the user from installing
multiple development packages simultaneously.
David
--
David Engel Optical Data Systems, Inc.
david@ods.com 1101 E. Arapaho Road
(214) 234-6400 Richardson, TX 75081
Reply to: