Re: Bug#685822: Please rewrite package description
Jan Struyf wrote:
> Dear Justin and Christian,
(Actually I didn't receive a copy, since I'm only on the d-l-e
mailinglist, not subscribed to the bug, but fortunately I check this
sort of thing!)
>> I'm not talking about a build-time dependency; I'm reading the
>> bits in the upstream description that seem to say it has a
>> run-time dependency ("GLE relies on LaTeX for text output"). Is
>> that true or not?
>
> There is no build time dependency. There is a runtime dependency,
> but this dependency is optional. GLE can use LaTeX, but it can also
> use builtin fonts or PostScript fonts. But this amount of detail may
> not be needed in a high level description.
This seems to contradict the assertion that "GLE relies on LaTeX for
text output". Should it instead be "GLE can make use of LaTeX for
text output"?
An "optional" dependency would mean a "Suggests" or "Recommends"
relationship, depending on how "normal" it is for users to have one
installed without the other. For instance, if I install gle-graphics
to produce charts with mathematical formulae in them, will I be able
to achieve that objective on a TeXless system? And if not, how
obvious will the error messages make it that I need to install extra
software?
(And when we say LaTeX, what actual Debian package are we talking
about? Should it just suggest texlive-fonts-recommended, or does it
need the whole of texlive, or what?)
--
JBR with qualifications in linguistics, experience as a Debian
sysadmin, and probably no clue about this particular package
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