Bug#1050768: xastir: Drop unused libproj-dev build dependency
Xastir's configure script probes for proj before geotiff, yes.
This dependency in configure is an odd, ancient relic of when libgeotiff was
in NO package management systems and most users had to build it from source
by themselves. That generally meant they got static libraries, not shared,
and so it was necessary to probe for libproj (which was always needed by
static-linked geotiff) before probing for geotiff.
It is still the case that if a user is using static geotiff libraries then
proj must be found first, and it does no harm to probe for it even if
geotiff is a shared library that pulls in its own dependency anyway. Few,
if any, modern users of Xastir use handrolled libgeotiff, but we keep the
possibility open because some people are like that.
However, if we're only talking about a package dependency, so long as your
libgeotiff package depends on the libproj-dev properly, and Xastir's package
depends on libgeotiff, then there is no problem with removing a build
dependency of the package on proj. So long as Xastir is always able to find
libproj libraries and headers if libgeotiff is requested, we're fine.
If, however, your libgeotiff package only depends on libproj and not
libproj-dev, yeah, Xastir still needs that build dependency.
David, please don't carbon me directly on things like this. Only if the
package managers can't resolve your query directly, please send them to the
Xastir mailing list, where multiple developers could respond.
On Tue, Aug 29, 2023 at 10:33:40AM -0400, we recorded a bogon-computron collision of the <david.aitcheson@gmail.com> flavor, containing:
> Christoph,
>
> de Dave KB3EFS
>
> Keeping the B-D is a must so that offline maps can be built from online
> sources provided by the U.S. Government.
>
> Please consult with Tom Russo KM5VY (the last developer to touch the entire
> Xastir source code) before any changes. I have CC'd him with this email.
>
> Thank you.
>
> 73
> Dave
> KB3EFS
>
> PS - Yes I see the other emails that are going back and forwards while I was
> typing this.
>
>
>
> On 8/29/23 10:07, Christoph Berg wrote:
> > Control: tags -1 moreinfo
> >
> > Re: Bas Couwenberg
> > > Your package build depends on libproj-dev but doesn't link to libproj nor include proj.h.
> > Xastir uses libgeotiff-dev, which depends on libproj-dev, so dropping
> > the B-D wouldn't make it not use it.
> >
> > Since configure.ac contains an explicit check for libproj before it
> > tries to check for libgeotiff, I think keeping the B-D does have some
> > value.
> >
> > Christoph
> >
--
Tom Russo KM5VY
Tijeras, NM
echo "prpv_a'rfg_cnf_har_cvcr" | sed -e 's/_/ /g' | tr [a-m][n-z] [n-z][a-m]
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