Not just desktops; too many libraries as well

[Kevin Cozens]

Walter Dnes wrote:
>   Thanks to every app having a different dependancy, when you install
> half-a-dozen apps, you've probably installed 4 honking big libraries, in
> addition to the apps.  I installed my first linux on a beat up old 120
> mhz Pentium Pro machine with 32 megs of RAM and a 2 gig harddrive, and
> had room left over to play with data.  Today, my *OS PARTITION* occupies
> approx 2 gigs.  That's with the Gentoo distfiles deleted, and only 1
> kernel in /usr/src.

One problem is that one app will use one set of libraries to do the same 
job that another app does with a different set of libraries. Add to that 
the fact the libraries needed by an app need libraries (sometimes repeating 
this for several levels). It results in bloat plus libraries supporting 
features you won't/don't need.

Unfortunately, it seems that packagers either can't, don't, or won't build 
a package making some dependencies optional. ie. if some additional library 
is available extra functionality is available. If some additional library 
isn't available and you don't need the features of that library it is still 
happy to get installed and still works properly.

I have already noticed a number of packages/libraries for stuff I don't 
want or feel I will ever use (like things to do with Ogg/Vorbis, and LDAP 
to name two that I can recall at the moment). Since they are "required" I 
can't get rid of them.

-- 
Cheers!

Kevin.

http://www.interlog.com/~kcozens/ |"What are we going to do today, Borg?"
Owner of Elecraft K2 #2172        |"Same thing we always do, Pinkutus:
                                   |  Try to assimilate the world!"
#include <disclaimer/favourite>   |              -Pinkutus & the Borg
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