file dependencies and packages and [blocker] bugs

Andrew Farris lordmorgul at gmail.com
Mon Mar 3 21:01:59 UTC 2008


Hans de Goede wrote:
> Bill Nottingham wrote:
>> Hans de Goede (j.w.r.degoede at hhs.nl) said:
>>>> So, maybe I'm insane, but if all you want is a sans bold, etc. font 
>>>> - that
>>>> can't be more than about 20 lines of fontconfig code to look for a 
>>>> match
>>>> for the 'sans' pattern and get a filename. That way:
>>>>
>>>> - you don't have to hardcode any files
>>>> - you don't have to hardcode any requirements
>>>>
>>>
>>> Erm, yes and our mantra is upstream, and most of these apps are 
>>> portable (using SDL + SDL_ttf for example), how am I going to get 
>>> this upstream, last I checked there was no fontconfig under windows, 
>>> let alone on devices like the gp2x.
>>>
>>> Really this is not a problem of the apps, people should stop thinking 
>>> about this as being a problem of the apps, there are just too many 
>>> apps doing this, this should be fixed centrally.
>>
>> Let me try to understand:
>>
>> You would rather:
>> - add 2000 more file entries to the metadata for everyone to download 
>> on every
>>   update
>> - manually track when files move and update all your packages
>>
>> than:
>> - add and carry a ~20 line patch that absolves you from having to fix 
>> your
>>   packages when they change?
>>
> 
> <sigh> (getting somwwhat tired of discussion.
> 
> Basicly: yes
> Because:
> -adding a Requires: /usr/share/fonts/foo/bar.ttf line to my package is 
> trivial
> -font renames are rare
> -even if font renames happen fixes is easy
> -games were designed with a certain look and feel, depending on getting 
> that
>  exacy font, fontconfig is somewhat fuzzy with which font you'll get

I would like to point out again, that because games are designed for a specific 
metric to fit within a surface in a pixel size the game developer chose to fit 
within theme of the game scene... the package should be carrying the font as 
game data.

The rest of the Fedora world should not care about that game carrying a minor 
portion of data specifically chosen to work well with that game's rendering 
engine within its own scenes.  However, the rest of the Fedora world downloading 
filelists due to some game packages not carrying a small font as game data seems 
a bit excessive.  The game essentially requires a font file (which it converts 
to images on a surface) as game data; what rationale is there for it not being 
game data just because it happens to exist elsewhere on the system in the same 
format?  The only benefit of that choice is a smaller game data package and 
smaller installed size for those users who happen to install that game (are they 
concerned about space while installing games?).

I know my opinion is just my own, but this seems backwards to me.  If the game 
is not using system font rendering it should be carrying the font as its own 
data, just like the sprites and backgrounds it also no doubt has.

That said, Hans you don't have to respond I know you've already responded ('live 
with it').  Still, it seems like a solution to significantly reduce bandwidth 
used by not pulling filelists as often exists and is simple.

-- 
Andrew Farris <lordmorgul at gmail.com> www.lordmorgul.net
  gpg 0xC99B1DF3 fingerprint CDEC 6FAD BA27 40DF 707E A2E0 F0F6 E622 C99B 1DF3
No one now has, and no one will ever again get, the big picture. - Daniel Geer
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