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List:       kde-core-devel
Subject:    Re: PLEASE don't ! (Re: kdesupport: let's get rid of it, now.)
From:       Rob Kaper <cap () capsi ! com>
Date:       2001-05-30 14:22:16
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On Wed, May 30, 2001 at 04:02:38PM +0200, Guillaume Laurent wrote:
> ... It doesn't look like a hassle for you because you never really had to
> do it. Take my word for it, it *IS* one big fscking hassle.

I am using bare Slackware and don't check out kdesupport to compile KDE.
It's still no hassle.

> I was already annoyed to discover that all of a sudden I had to get libxml2. 
> Given that it's only for help files, I didn't even bother.

Which is why there's a difference between "requirements" and
"recommendations". If you don't have a requirement, you cannot compile
because configure _fails_.

Others are enhancements and you can use KDE just fine, you will just miss
certain things such as real-time docbook parsing, sound, advanced Javascript
support..

> kdesupport simply solves all this. Get the right versions of all the
> auxiliary libs you need in one time. You also make sure that no developer
> will "accidentally" use a different version of one of these libs, and when
> a new lib is needed you make it easier for everyone to know and get it :
> just upgrade KDE support. People who simply blindly upgrade every
> component regularly might not even notice.

The problem is that many distributions already ship some (but not others) of
the stuff that used to be in kdesupport. Compiling and installing our own
included versions over those is usually exactly what creates the dependency
problems! Perhaps KDE will run smoothly, but other programs won't anymore!

AFAIK this was the exact reason why kdesupport was supopsed to be fased out.
I'm not sure why it's still there, perhaps because noone bothered to invest
time in checking which dependencies KDE exactly has.

It is not the job of KDE to make sure you meet the requirements. It is our
job to inform you what those are as soon as possible, by having configure
report it and perhaps by automatically parsing the configure.in.bot files
and always have an up-to-date compile instructions page.

Rob
-- 
Rob Kaper     | 'What? In riddles?' said Gandalf. 'No! For I was talking
cap@capsi.com | aloud to myself. A habit of the old: they choose the wisest
www.capsi.com | person present to speak to; the long explanations needed by
              | the young are wearying.' - "Lord of the Rings", JRR Tolkien

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