Re: [Freeciv-Dev] Requiring glib...

[David Pfitzner <dwp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Daniel Sjolie <deepone@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I think making glib required would be a good thing (tm)
> The purpose of glib is to act as a portability libary...
> It would be best to use this rather than coming up with our own
> solutions as soon as we find a problem...

A while back (before the GTK+ client was integrated) this
was considered (by some) and thought to be a bad idea (PD ;-)
The main problem people tended to have compiling freeciv was 
having the required libs (Xaw, Xpm) and getting configure/whatever 
to find them properly.  Adding an _additional_ required lib was 
considered to make this worse without giving sufficient additional 
benefit to be worthwhile.

Now the GTK+ client is included, and anyone using that will
automatically have glib already, so maybe the equation changes.

I'm still not sure whether the benefit to freeciv would
be sufficient to justify it.  As someone else pointed out
it would solve a current problem of giving us an snprintf. 
Though that can also be fixed other ways.

> If we need something that glib cannot provide or have problems with glib
> we should very seriously consider to fix it in glib and thus work for an
> improved, standardized portability libary...

Hmm, that would mean that to use freeciv one must have the 
latest, greatest, up-to-datest glib.  As a user, that sort of 
tight dependency annoys me. :-(

> I'm planning on using glib extensively in the Client X project if I
> don't hear any really serious objections... 

Is Client X going to be based on the GTK+ client, or what?
I would guess if you are seriously rearranging things it
would be easiest just to use a single toolkit.  If so,
then you will have glib available for your client already.

(Hmm, I can't say I like the name "Client X".  To me it suggests
the (wrong) implication of some particular relation with the X 
Window System.)

>  I really think that glib is
> a libary that we *want* on every computer... Thus we *should* require it
> to work for the spreading of this...

(Well, thats a glib agenda; currently I'm more interested in 
whats best for freeciv.)

Regards,
-- David