The most emblematic case is LibreOffice's, that pulls in perl5, mysql-client-5.7 and even openldap-client!
But other packages install gcc, automake, etc.
1. Most people will never use LibreOffice to access a database or an LDAP directory, so these should NOT be required.
2. If you're a developer, you'll likely want to use a much more recent version of MySQL, or even MariaDB. But if you try and do so, it will uninstall LibreOffice.
3. If you're not a developer, you should not be bothered with such things as perl5 or automake - you just want to use the package, not build it.
I also don't understand why so many packages bring in other p5-... packages, even though not developed in perl themselves. These dependencies look like API to use the main package in perl programs, but they are only useful to those who intend to develop such an application, not for the 99.999% other users.
I'm very surprised that such issues still exist in 2020, so I guess there is a reason for this - technical or human.
So here are my questions:
- Is there any indispensable reason for such dependencies to be required at run-time?
- If not, would any effort to clean up that mess be welcome?
I mean, I'm willing to make that effort for packages I have an issue with, but I'd like to be sure these efforts will not be > /dev/null.
But other packages install gcc, automake, etc.
1. Most people will never use LibreOffice to access a database or an LDAP directory, so these should NOT be required.
2. If you're a developer, you'll likely want to use a much more recent version of MySQL, or even MariaDB. But if you try and do so, it will uninstall LibreOffice.
3. If you're not a developer, you should not be bothered with such things as perl5 or automake - you just want to use the package, not build it.
I also don't understand why so many packages bring in other p5-... packages, even though not developed in perl themselves. These dependencies look like API to use the main package in perl programs, but they are only useful to those who intend to develop such an application, not for the 99.999% other users.
I'm very surprised that such issues still exist in 2020, so I guess there is a reason for this - technical or human.
So here are my questions:
- Is there any indispensable reason for such dependencies to be required at run-time?
- If not, would any effort to clean up that mess be welcome?
I mean, I'm willing to make that effort for packages I have an issue with, but I'd like to be sure these efforts will not be > /dev/null.