Re: Bug#687001: ITP: optional-dev -- fake (empty) dev package
Dmitry Smirnov <onlyjob@member.fsf.org> writes:
> Due to risk of FTBFS maintainer should be careful with introducing
> dependencies that are non-critical for upstream build.
I think the opposite is true for the Debian archive. Local package builds
and derivatives may have other needs, but within the Debian archive it's
extremely important that every build of the package will produce the same
results, with the same optional features enabled and the same
configuration. Otherwise, the package can vary in apparently random ways
between different platforms, or between one build and the next.
Therefore, for uploading packages to Debian, one should take the exact
opposite approach: be aggressive about introducing build dependencies to
ensure that the package build is reproducible and consistent, and that any
failure to produce a consistent package results in a FTBFS that preserves
the previous version until a human can look at the problem.
--
Russ Allbery (rra@debian.org) <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>
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