Re: Are we losing users to Gentoo?
Matt Zimmerman <mdz@debian.org> writes:
> On Wed, Nov 20, 2002 at 08:50:32PM +1100, Andrew Lau wrote:
>
> > Silly, perhaps, but it still conveys the message that the
> > Gentoo user is in control. Do the cutting edge enthusiasts in Debian
> > have the same amount of control? Have we become so complacent at
> > believing that since we have the some of the strictest policies and
> > heaviest bug resolution/testing procedures around that we're the best
> > distribution around that we no longer need to seek improvements?
>
> Users can already build packages from source with the greatest of ease. The
> corresponding (missing) functionality in Debian would be a standardized and
> universally recognized way to pass compiler flags and the like into the
> package build process.
>
> ...given a facility corresponding to these:
>
> bsd.port.mk(5):
>
> CONFIGURE_ARGS
> Arguments to pass to configure script. Defaults are empty,
> except for gnu-style configure, where prefix and sysconfdir
> are set.
The problem with configure options is how to correctly package up the
resulting build. If an extra option builds a new binary that goes in
a package (or perhaps a new separate package), how is debian/rules or
debian/control to know about the addition and correctly handle it?
The same applies to removing features.
When you alter the build, the installed files and dependencies can
change, which will often need careful manual corrections. gentoo can
probably get away with simply altering the options, but in Debian we
must be more careful--how consistent are gentoo systems, given that
each is built with a set of ~unique preferences. Debugging the
packaging must be a nightmare, given how many permutations there must
be!
> CONFIGURE_ENV
> Basic environment passed to configure script (path and
> libtool setup). gnu-style configure adds a lot more vari-
> ables.
>
> plus a mandate that all debian/rules honour inherited CFLAGS, CXXFLAGS and the
> like, this would become trivial.
>
> But is it worthwhile?
I think it would be very nice, but it would also open a whole can of
worms. When I want to customise a Debian package, I usually alter the
configure options, and then edit rules and control so it will then
build and package correctly. Automating that is IMHO not realistic,
at least with the current tools (I already preprocess debian/control
with sed).
Regards,
Roger
--
Roger Leigh
"Liberty and Livelihood" - Support the Countryside Alliance
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