On Wed, 7 Mar 2007, Domenico Andreoli wrote:
indeed you may install both openssl and gnutls version of the library binary (starting from 7.16.1 i restored also the plain no-ssl version!). but here we are talking of the development files.
Sure, and the packages I already mentioned similarly have to deal with this problem.
tipical curl program #include <curl/easy.h>. appending version makes all this software break, requiring it to include something like <curl-gnutls/easy.h>. i already hear people saying, ah.. in the debian wonderland you have to make weird things to build with curl (no please).
So how does libdb deal with the problem? I know how Lua does it: a program typically does "#include <lua.h>", and the Debian packages install lua.h under /usr/include/lua{50,5.1}/lua.h, so you have to add the relevant path to INCLUDE_PATH or as an option to configure or whatever when you're building software. Some software (e.g. ion3) even comes with specific configure magic to allow you to specify the path to the Lua stuff, because this is a common problem. I presume the same is true for libdb.
of course we could use alternatives and let the admin point /usr/include/curl to whatever she likes but i'm sure things would start to break badly here (ie. libraries depending on libcurl4-gnutls-dev taking for granted that /usr/include/curl points to /use/include/curl-gnutls while the admin today chose to make it point to /usr/include/curl-openssl). what a mess, to solve what? situation is now under control using package relationships, maybe a little strong but it's safe.
The situation is not under control: what is the sysadmin of a multi-user system supposed to do to satisfy users who want both -dev packages? Personally, I would go with the Lua solution: /usr/include/lua.h doesn't exist, so you never get taken by surprise, and you always have to say which version you want. Most build build systems (and crucially, the GNU autotools) let you specify extra include paths at build time, so this is not a big deal.
-- http://rrt.sc3d.org/ | Carbon neutral: buy one get one tree -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
