Re: build-depending on a virtual package
On Tue, May 02, 2006 at 12:14:30AM +0300, George Danchev wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I just discovered the fact that ara build-depends on a virtual package -
> ocaml-best-compilers. I'm not sure about the reasons we have been after to
> declared this in a such way, but this should give random failures imho. How
> are autobuilders supposed know which physical package(s) to install to satisfy
> the provision of ocaml-best-compilers. Seems it is far better to build-depend
> on ocaml-native-compilers or I'm missing something ?
When, like in this case, there is only one real package providing the virtual
package, it is not really a virtual package we are facing, but more an 'alias'
of some kind.
This problem has been known since 2000 or so, and the buildd coders have never
been interested in solving the issue.
Right now, this is solved by having the buildd admins set the dependency by
hand, it seems they are more interested in boring repetitive work than working
on the code base.
This is in part because they don't come from a formal programming community
like the ocaml one, but are mostly perl hackers at the base, i believe.
BTW, you do work on the EDOS project on dependency graphs and stuff like that,
right ? Do you have some insight on how this could be handled better than it
is done now ? I guess that with debian stagnating in its tools, other distribs
(like mandrake) will clearly take the forefront in a few years.
Friendly,
Sven Luther
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