On 14 October 2012 17:07, Ben Hutchings <b...@decadent.org.uk> wrote: > On Sun, 2012-10-14 at 16:26 +0100, Adam D. Barratt wrote: >> Control: tags -1 + moreinfo >> >> On 14.10.2012 16:09, Ben Hutchings wrote: >> > blcr is not usable with kernel version 2.6.39 or later (see bug >> > #638339). It will probably be fixed upstream at some point, but >> > it cannot now be released in wheezy. Therefore please remove >> > from testing only. >> >> As mentioned at the BSP, the library has several reverse dependencies. >> Do we know whether dropping the kernel module and keeping the libraries >> would work? (CCing the maintainer). > > I'm not familiar with the package but from the description it appears > that the library is only an interface to the kernel module, thus it > won't be usable with current kernel packages. > > The changelog states that: > > * blcr-dkms still lacks support for 2.6.39/3.x kernels, but is useful to: > - Users running newer kernels with stable > - Users running older kernels with testing/unstable > - Developers working on support for newer kernels > > However I don't think that any longterm kernel series older than 2.6.39 > will be supported for the lifetime of wheezy. Further, userland > packages in jessie will be allowed to assume a kernel version of 3.2 or > later, so the next upgrade may fail badly. > > If the interface between the library and kernel module is stable (though > I suspect not...) then the library might be usable with an updated > module when that arrives. Then it would seem reasonable to include the > library only in wheezy. But if not then I don't think either belongs in > the release. > > [...] >> # Broken Build-Depends: >> mpich2: libcr-dev >> openmpi: libcr-dev > > These can be built without libcr, and indeed they are on those > architectures where it is not available.
The library behaves sanely without the kernel module and dropping just the -dkms package would be my preferred solution. Most binaries that use BLCR are built to run in environments where the presence of the kernel part isn't a given. Upstream doesn't have funding at the moment to add support for newer kernels (they sound like it's something they hope to return to though) and my attempts at developing a patch were largely unsuccessful, i.e. worse than no patch at all. I anticipate that the library itself ought to be useable when such a patch arrives. There's a bug outstanding for dropping the Recommends to Suggests on the kernel module, that combined with removing the -dkms package should be sufficient for releasing without storing up pain for the future in my view. Alan -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-release-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/CAD2JkJeRD5fZHdiL1tmc4OqTM=gdGt=nn+u6oqffutpuram...@mail.gmail.com
