Re: new image library "requirements"

[Nick Roberts <nickrob@snap.net.nz>]

 >     > Yes, where does it all end?  Emacs will build without alsa headers but
 >     > presumably that leads to some loss of functionality (playing midi
 >     > files, maybe?).  Should configure throw an error when these aren't
 >     > found?
 > 
 > The answer to that question isn't a theoretical one.  It is a matter
 > of how important a given feature is as a feature of Emacs.
 >
 > For instance, for sound: how important a problem is it that people
 > build Emacs and don't get sound, just because they didn't have the
 > right headers installed?  

I think lack of alsa headers leads to reduced sound functionality, not no
sound (oss gets used?).

 >                           On the other side, how big an inconvenience
 > is it to be pressured into installing the headers, when you didn't
 > want sound anyway?

But presumably this isn't a one size fits all problem but depends on what the
user intends to do with Emacs.  If configure just informs the user of what
functionality will be missing (rather than what libraries are missing), *he*
can decide, not us, if that is a problem or not.

-- 
Nick                                           http://www.inet.net.nz/~nickrob