On Tue, Dec 09, 2003 at 03:45:41AM -0600, Callum Lerwick wrote:
> > I'm working on switching to abcde because recent builds of grip on
> > Debian unstable depend on all the Gnome libraries.  I don't use Gnome or
> > KDE so I try not to have any of their supporting libraries installed.
> 
> Funny, one of the goals of GNOME is to provide a structure for code
> re-use and prevent the constant re-inventing of the wheel thats so
> prevalent in the unix world. Its exactly this attitude that kept Linux
> in the back room for so long.

True, KDE and GNOME are trying hard to reuse as much code as possible.
But in their quest they create lots of interdependencies.  Library A
needs library B which in some cases needs library C, etc.  The problem
is that Application X uses a function P out of library A.  Function P
doesn't need anything in library B.  Packaging comes along and creates
dependencies at the library level.  So to install application X I need
to install libraries A, B, and C.

I like the small is beautiful approach.  If I don't need a library I
don't want it installed.  Because of the way that GNOME applications
pull in libraries for features that I probably won't use, I decided not
to use it.  I get a smaller OS and less security worries.

Nate

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