Mailing-List: contact cygwin-developers-help AT sourceware DOT cygnus DOT com; run by ezmlm
List-Subscribe: <mailto:cygwin-developers-subscribe AT sources DOT redhat DOT com>
List-Archive: <http://sources.redhat.com/ml/cygwin-developers/>
List-Post: <mailto:cygwin-developers AT sources DOT redhat DOT com>
List-Help: <mailto:cygwin-developers-help AT sources DOT redhat DOT com>, <http://sources.redhat.com/ml/#faqs>
Sender: cygwin-developers-owner AT sources DOT redhat DOT com
Delivered-To: mailing list cygwin-developers AT sources DOT redhat DOT com
Subject: setup.ini - some points
From: Robert Collins <robert DOT collins AT itdomain DOT com DOT au>
To: cygwin-developers AT cygwin DOT com
Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Mailer: Evolution/0.15 (Preview Release)
Date: 01 Nov 2001 22:16:04 +1100
Message-Id: <1004613365.2407.73.camel@lifelesswks>
Mime-Version: 1.0
X-OriginalArrivalTime: 01 Nov 2001 11:20:20.0148 (UTC) FILETIME=[30E60740:01C162C7]

What is the consensus on the meaning of the 'base' category?

Is it a) the _absolute minimum_ to run shell scripts and invoke
utilities, or b) is it the core install for a comfortable environment?

if a) then
IMO [bash, diff, possibly findutils, gdbm, possibly libncurses5&6, man,
possibly ncurses, possibly readline, possibly terminfo, textutils and
which ] should not be listed as 'base'. 

if it's b) then I propose we have the 'Required' category reinstated,
and the current base members (minus the list above) are added to
Required.

Second, we need a policy, that _no_ pre or post install scripts are
needed for the packages in the (if a) base else Required) category.

Whats this in aid of?
pre/post install scripts will fail if everything needed to run them
isn't installed. Dpkg has a neat capability to defer running the
configuration scripts until everything needed is installed, but we don't
have that yet. I'm not sure if rpm has that capability or not (I don't
recall seeing it, things used to simply fail to install).

So, to prevent this, the core needed tools to run pre-post install
scripts need to be always present, and themselves cannot have those
scripts. (for now).

Rob