Re: Arch:all package depending on package that isn't Arch:any
Kevin Glynn <kevin.glynn@gmail.com> writes:
> This is in reference to serious bug#511184.
>
> The mozart package can only be built for 32 bit architectures, so its
> arch line is:
>
> Architecture: hppa i386 m68k mipsel mips powerpc sparc s390 arm armeb
> armel kfreebsd-i386
>
> Its standard library (package mozart-stdlib) contains only
> architecture independent files, and its control file has:
>
> Package: mozart-stdlib
> Architecture: all
> Depends: mozart (>= 1.3.0)
>
> As bug 511184 points out mozart-stdlib is arch: all but uninstallable
> on (e.g.) amd64.
>
> I can't find clear guidance from the developer's reference or policy
> (apologies if I've overlooked this). I see three options:
>
> 1. Leave as is (its been like this for years and years).
>
> Not installing on amd64 is reasonable.
This feels like the right option to me. I don't think this is an RC bug.
There are other examples of this in the archive (openafs-modules-source,
for instance, which while installable on mipsel is completely useless on
that platform since it won't compile and there's no userspace).
Adding an explicit architecture to the package wastes archive space by
duplicating the package on all 32-bit platforms.
It would be nice if there were some way of telling the archive software
not to include this package in the archive index on the platforms it
doesn't support, though.
--
Russ Allbery (rra@debian.org) <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>
Reply to: