Dependencies, compiling, and XF402 questions
Ok I have a rather long and drawn out question. But please be patient with
me as the question is part of the process of me learning the ropes for
becoming a maintainer and developer.
Branden: I've cc'd you as you are the maintainer for X and can answer those
questions. I don't know if you watch the mentors list. Please forgive the
intrusion.
One of the things I struggle with in Debian (and some other distros like
RedHat) is the issue of package dependencies and what happens if I recompile
a major package such as XFree86.
For example, say I have package 123 and it depends on X >= 4.0. Now I've
compiled and installed X 4.0.2 but the package database of course does not
recognize that I've done that. It still thinks I have X 3.3.6 therefore,
package 123 does not install. How do I get around this? I know I could
probably use --force with apt-get or dpkg but I'm wondering if there's
another way? I could probably create my own packages for X, but don't really
have the experience to do so, any tips and pointers would be appreciated.
You can apply this situation to any package. I don't want to recompile my
entire system. I might as well transfer to Slackware if I want that. I like
Debian and want to stay with it, but getting around some package issues is a
little hard to grasp at time.
The X sources for XFree86 4.0.2 that are available from Branden's site seem
to depend on libglide2-dev and libglide3-dev. I don't think these
dependencies are fair for those of us that do not have Voodoo cards. The
should be suggestions instead. Voodoo owners would know they need these
anyway and probably already have them installed. What's the difference
between the sources here and the source tarballs on xfree86.org?
Also, what is the best way to compile X402 and install it without having to
uninstall X apps like Gnome and such and then reinstall. Or even just having
to reinstall them. I back up everything in /usr/X11R6 and /etc/X11 but
putting it back together after compiling and installing the new X is a pain
in the rear. It may be necessary, but it's a pain in the rear none-the-less.
Why compile and install X instead of just using the packages you say?
Simple, testing the new kernel and wanting to compile up-to-date DRI code
and a newer driver for my Matrox G400 MAX card.
Thanks in advance.
--
________________________________________________________________________
__ _ Carl B. Constantine
/ / (_)__ __ ____ __
/ /__/ / _ \/ // /\ \/ / (2.4.0)
/____/_/_//_/\_ _/ /_/\_\ Stormix 2000
PGP key available on request
VLUG - Victoria Linux Users Group ICQ: 26351441
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Up the line - out the server- past the firewall - nothing but Net!!
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