Re: Bug#508230: /usr/bin/autopoint: Please make it possible, to use autopoint without cvs (fwd)

[Bruno Haible]

Michael Biebl wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> running "autoreconf" on almost any GNOME project will call autopoint,
> which in turn calls cvs.

The gettext-0.17/DEPENDENCIES files lists this dependency:

  The following packages should be installed when GNU gettext is installed:

  * CVS 1.11 or newer
    + Recommended.
      Needed by the 'autopoint' program.
    + Homepage:
      http://ximbiot.com/cvs/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
      http://www.nongnu.org/cvs/
    + Download:
      http://ftp.gnu.org/non-gnu/cvs/

> I already had a failing build of a package because of that.

If you don't install the packages necessary for execution of 'autopoint', it's
normal that you get a failure.

> I read the existing README file and I agree with you, that the gettext
> package should *not* have a dependency on cvs.

There is no mention of 'cvs' in gettext's README file.

> Instead I suggest to provide a sane fallback, if cvs is not found, i.e.
> ship a well tested and up-to-date copy of the files in archive.tar.gz in
> gettext, and use those files, if cvs is not available.
> 
> Depending on a internet connection in a buildd is not a good idea
> anyway.

You must be misunderstanding something. 'cvs' is used to extract the files
from archive.tar.gz. The use of 'cvs' within autopoint does not rely on an
internet connection.

Thanks for the report anyway: I agree with you that software should not make
internet requests unless solicited by the user.

Bruno