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Re: Source-Depends? Autoreconf?



Hi,

        I wold like to say that I do not really see the Degbian source
 package as a primary mode of development  communication between Debian
 and the downstreams, as it is strictly a snapshot, and loses too much
 history.  I think that people deriving code based on lines of
 development I have in my packages will be better served by using a
 distributed VCS; and collaboration and feeback would be far easier. The
 Debian source packages are a stop gap . and vastly inferior, back
 channel mechanism.

On Sat, May 02 2009, Bernhard R. Link wrote:


> Change source files, run autoreconf at build time
> - derivation: package is build with a system run with another autotools
>   version, but the way this is done is canonical
> - identification: as only the build system's source file changes, easy
>   to grasp (unless the new autotools version bring the real changes).
> - maintainability: perfect
> - robustness: danger of new autotools version breaking the build

        I have been doing this for some time now,  and have not yet had
 the sky fall on my head. I have started treating autotools just like
 any other part of the toolchain, like, say, gcc. I do not carry around
 the .o files in the package i case someone tries to build with a newer
 gcc that could introduce errors (as the new G++ did for one of my
 packages). 


> Also assessment of external factors plays an important role. Several
> years ago, autotools changed quite rapdily and
> disruptively. Robustness was an important reason to not run autotools
> while building.  Now this has changed, so running autotools at build
> time is often considered the best solution, as it causes clean diffs,
> well-tested build paths and easy maintanability. (Though it still
> depends on the actual case. Very small changes, massively outdated
> uptreams and/or usage of strange corner-cases of autotools can still
> make something else better depending on a wide range of factors).

        The same might be true for any other component in the tool
 chain, no?

        manoj
-- 
"Just the facts, Ma'am." Joe Friday
Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@debian.org> <http://www.debian.org/~srivasta/>  
1024D/BF24424C print 4966 F272 D093 B493 410B  924B 21BA DABB BF24 424C


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