Bug#754177: stumpwm does not work if `cl-asdf' is not installed.

[Emilio Lopes]

2014-07-08 20:48 GMT+02:00 Milan Zamazal <pdm at debian.org>:
>>>>>> "EL" == Emilio Lopes <eclig at gmx.net> writes:
>
>     EL> after installing `stumpwm' I could not start the window manager.  There
>     EL> was some error message mentioning `asdf', which was *not* installed.
>
>     EL> Note that `cl-asdf' is not `required' by `stumpwm', just `recommended'.
>
>     EL> After `cl-asdf' was installed, I could start `stumpwm' as expected.
>
> Stumpwm can run on different Common Lisp implementations and perhaps not
> all of them require cl-asdf to run Stumpwm.  So Stumpwm shouldn't depend
> on cl-asdf.  Recommended packages should be installed unless you know
> what you're doing, see Debian Policy:
>
>   The `Recommends' field should list packages that would be found
>   together with this one in all but unusual installations.
>
> So I'd say `Recommends: cl-asdf' is OK here.  Do you think otherwise?

Hi Milan,

I understand `Recommends' as: `the program works properly but you can't
probably do much with it without this other package'.  That's the case
e.g. with `bison' without a compiler.

I just tried the "default" installation (no Lisp previously installed) of
`stumpwm' and the program does not run.  That's not nice, IMHO.

Maybe the `Depends' directive could be changed from:

    Depends: clisp-module-clx | cl-clx-sbcl | cmucl-source, cl-ppcre

to

    Depends: clisp-module-clx | cl-clx-sbcl | cmucl-source, cl-ppcre,
cl-clx-sbcl | cl-asdf, ...

if `cl-asdf' is always necessary unless when using SBCL.  The `...'
means: repeat
for other Lisps which don't need the external `cl-asdf' to run `stumpwm'.

Best regards

 Emílio