Bug#2643: tcl/tk libraries need extra symlinks (was Re: Tcl/Tk)

[Ian Jackson <ijackson@chiark.chu.cam.ac.uk>]

Package: tcl74-dev, tk40-dev, tclX
Version: 7.4p3-2, 4.0p3-2, 7.3b-5

These packages should have links
 /usr/lib/libtcl.so -> libtcl.so
 /usr/lib/libtclx.so.3 -> libtclx.so
 /usr/lib/libtk4.0.so -> libtk.so
so that you can say -ltclx -ltk -ltcl, rather than having to specify
version numbers.

I don't understand why the -dev packages have the version number in
the package name.  Perhaps it is so that you can have several
development versions installed at once.  If so then some mechanism
needs to be found for making sure that the above links get updated
properly, and perhaps of allowing the sysadmin to choose which is the
one to use.

It might be simpler to have only one version of the -dev
packages on a system at once, by using Conflicts (possibly with
Replaces) or (better) by giving the packages the same name from one
version to the next.

Thanks to Daniel Luhde-Thompson for reporting this to me.

Ian.

Daniel Luhde-Thompson writes ("Re: Tcl/Tk"):
> [Ian Jackwon writes:]
> > Daniel Luhde-Thompson writes ("Tcl/Tk"):
> > > Can't get a sodding thing to compile under Debian... at least, it won't
> > > link, with same errors under either of our machines.
> >
> > Can you send a transcript to `bugs@chiark', please ?  Then I'll figure
> > out whether it's because I have a mixture of a.out and ELF, or a plain
> > bug, or whatever.
>
> I've nailed it now, after much heartache. Your Tcl/Tk libs are names
> libtcl7.4.so and libtk4.0.so, meaning you need -ltck7.4 and -ltk4.0 which
> is annoying. [...]