> I was wondering if Build Deps in a source package follow dependencies. > For example, if I build a package that requires libgnome-dev to > compile, do I need to specify the myriad of other packages that are > automatically installed when I install libgnome-dev?
This came up a few months ago. If you maintain package X which has a dependency (build or otherwise) on package A, and package A depends on package B, but you don't depend on B directly, then list only A. If you depend directly on both A and B, then list them both. The (build-)depends field just lets you know what packages you need to have installed to compile/use a package. The process of installing those packages always follows dependencies unless the administrator is deliberately trying to avoid that. This works well if A is ever rewritten to no longer need B, X will still work. If you had declared B without needing it, you'd have an unnecessary dependency, and if you hadn't declared it when you did need it, then you'd have a missing dependency. > Also, if something depends on say, libgtk1.2-dev, do I need to specify > xlibs? Technically, you don't /have/ to have xlibs if you use an > alternate target (like upstream CVS libgtk1.2 which supports the > framebuffer) If it's not necessary and there is a way to work without it, you don't need a dependency. You might want to Recommend xlibs, though, since most people would want it. Eric
