Vim 5.0 package and compile-time options in packages
A Debian package of 5.0 has just been released, something a lot of
users were eagerly waiting for. Earlier today I installed it, and
was disappointed to discover that GUI support was not enabled, as it
had been in the 4.6 Debian package.
I was on the point of submitting a "wishlist" bug report, but then
reflected: VIM 5.0 is a program with so many different compile options
(including +/- support for emacs tags and Perl and Python syntax)
that it is not easy to build a Debian package that meets the needs
of all users. Some people want all the GUI and syntax support; others,
especially people on slower systems, want a smaller, leaner program.
So this leads to a more general question: what's the "Debian philosophy"
on packaging a program with so many compile options? Build one package
to the least common denominator? or with as many features as possible?
Build multiple packages for the same program? Or include multiple
versions of the binaries in a single package, and determine from the
user during package install which one to copy to /usr/bin?
--
David Sewell * dsew@packrat.aml.arizona.edu | "The sleeping are workmen
Dep't of Geosciences, Univ. of Arizona | (and fellow-workers) in
WWW: http://packrat.aml.arizona.edu/~dsew/ | what happens in the world."
| --Heraclitus
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