Hello, GEOS upstream[1] explicitly offers a C++ API, with no API stability across different versions, and a C API, as a stable wrapper to the C++ API with API and API stability guarantees. The Debian libgeos++-dev package has intentionally stopped[2] shipping some include files that are needed to build programs with the C++ API, stating: > The files are explicitly removed because the C++ API should not be used > by others. > > Having to rebuild rdeps for every upstream release is unacceptable. This[3] is the corresponding issue in Ubuntu. I do understand that Debian is not a good match for a C++ library that does not make API and ABI stability guarantees, but the current solution declares that the package exists but breaks builds, not just of Debian packages using it, but also of software not shipped in Debian[4]. I wonder if there can be a better way of stating lack of support for packages in Debian built using the C++ API, than the current situation of shipping a broken package. Even now having libgeos++-dev in Debian, shipping only the C API, would be better than a broken version. Ideas for alternative approaches, that would still honor the desire of the maintainer of not having to deal with the ripple effects of API/ABI changes? Enrico [1] https://libgeos.org/ [2] https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1010002#20 [3] https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/geos/+bug/1980147 [4] https://github.com/ARPA-SIMC/arkimet/issues/291 -- GPG key: 4096R/634F4BD1E7AD5568 2009-05-08 Enrico Zini <enrico@enricozini.org>
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