> The problem is, how do you know which packages depend on curses, or
> openssl, or gettext, in order to get this imaginary dependency?

I don't understand why it is imaginary. For example, I know that apache2
built with SSL needs openssl and I know what binaries I built need a
curses (as listed in an earlier email).

The problem is that it is built in one environment, then maybe the rpm
for openssl is removed (or the apache2 package is installed on a different
box without openssl).

All that is needed is a pkgsrc option that says I really want to use and
depend on the pkgsrc version of openssl (or whatever). (I just send-pr'd
a patch for gtexinfo.)

> The system you describe is fully in place for openssl, and yet, hidden
> dependencies go undetected for years. I think we'd be doing non-NetBSD
> pkgsrc users a better service if we just said, "You need these things
> to run NetBSD pkgsrc, and that's that."

That list would be long: file (I packaged), ldconfig (I packaged glibc),
dc (I packaged), awk, sed, openssl, gtexinfo, a curses, et cetera. Many of
these requirements are (or should) be available in pkgsrc.

But since the pkgsrc already provides openssl, ncurses, gtexinfo,
whatever, we might as well allow the pkgsrc user to use them.

It seems strange to use pkgsrc for some stuff, but use rpm (or dpkg or
Solaris package) to get some dependencies that are already available with
pkgsrc too.

   Jeremy C. Reed

   http://www.bsdnewsletter.com/