From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Pierre Neidhardt Subject: Re: Package request inxi Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2018 14:09:51 +0530 Message-ID: <877epcq0mg.fsf@gmail.com> References: <87h8p0wb6m.fsf@gmail.com> <87woxwkypg.fsf@gmail.com> <874ll09kn6.fsf@gmail.com> <87po353efj.fsf@gmail.com> <877epcesqb.fsf@gmail.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/signed; boundary="=-=-="; micalg=pgp-sha256; protocol="application/pgp-signature" Return-path: Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::10]:59846) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1f6Xlx-0000yF-Al for help-guix@gnu.org; Thu, 12 Apr 2018 04:40:02 -0400 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1f6Xlt-00050Q-BO for help-guix@gnu.org; Thu, 12 Apr 2018 04:40:01 -0400 Received: from mail-it0-x22d.google.com ([2607:f8b0:4001:c0b::22d]:34784) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS1.0:RSA_AES_128_CBC_SHA1:16) (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1f6Xlt-000509-5J for help-guix@gnu.org; Thu, 12 Apr 2018 04:39:57 -0400 Received: by mail-it0-x22d.google.com with SMTP id t192-v6so1777004itc.1 for ; Thu, 12 Apr 2018 01:39:57 -0700 (PDT) In-reply-to: <877epcesqb.fsf@gmail.com> List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: help-guix-bounces+gcggh-help-guix=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Sender: "Help-Guix" To: Chris Marusich Cc: help-guix --=-=-= Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I was using "optional dependencies" in the sense Arch Linux uses it: they don't impact the build, they are only used at runtime. From=20a package declaration perspective, they are merely hint for the user. The main advantage over simply adding them to the description is that the package manager can tell about "optional reverse dependencies". When removing a package that is optionally needed by others, it makes it possible to warn the users if they are going to lose some functionnality for some specified packages. None of `inputs`, `native-inputs` or `propagated-inputs` allow us to do that. =2D- Pierre Neidhardt Flying is the second greatest feeling you can have. The greatest feeling? Landing... Landing is the greatest feeling you can have. --=-=-= Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc" -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iQEzBAEBCAAdFiEEUPM+LlsMPZAEJKvom9z0l6S7zH8FAlrPG1cACgkQm9z0l6S7 zH+YcAf/bP+xbh2l3DUwuErzQhc58GIXi4vKo2qGBrA7pAApU5c2tKtbOaOZrX9N iGhr8E0p5ozSB/bfkWH4quRNxZCKtqmk5H4OmWG/YGTiMJ7Uaeh75sp8SgSSRWst eeJ1e3nYnMAheo2+PJuEX5rx4bth65w7327sMLMG6rhNRlsYM1vVIdC6d2WXT6Zc N1qWCMA7DN/buOsI905puZdh+6wSHjKB9u8FWf+KjX9Tdr08kLJJocYfc89DGdAY 7+8oSIIxCnU1D+bL9owFm9v85CDaY1qcBbksbVcSMQIl/gvrBYoqNlJVKjQ/iNnA ZIfUCmqy0/SVkYKaXzPyWEpxgJpZ9g== =qAhs -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --=-=-=--