[pkg-db-devel] Bug#622916: libdb4.7-dev: shared linking no longer possible

[Niko Tyni]

Package: libdb4.7-dev
Version: 4.7.25-13
Severity: grave
Justification: makes the package unusable

On Wed, Apr 06, 2011 at 10:44:42PM +0200, Ondřej Surý wrote:
> Package: perl
> Version: 5.10.1-19
> Severity: normal
> User: pkg-db-devel at lists.alioth.debian.org
> Usertags: db5.1
> 
> Your package currently still uses Berkeley DB version 4.7 (libdb4.7).
> 
> However, there is a newer Berkeley DB version in the archive (libdb5.1),
> with a compatible API.  Berkeley DB version 4.7 will be eventually
> removed from unstable in favor of version 5.1.

Hi Ondřej (explicitly cc'd as the PTS still shows db4.7 as orphaned),

I see db4.7 (4.7.25-13) broke perl (5.10.1-19) build because of this:

   * Remove generic -ldb and -ldb-4 linkability from the package
     (db5.1 transition)

The result is (from my local perl build log):

 <db.h> found.
 Checking Berkeley DB version ...
 /tmp/ccKS99qO.o: In function `main':
 /tmp/buildd/perl-5.10.1/UU/try.c:17: undefined reference to `db_version'
 collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
 I can't use Berkeley DB with your <db.h>.  I'll disable Berkeley DB.

and the DB_File module doesn't get built or installed any more.

This feels like introducing gratious breakage for the sake of it.
There's not a single .so file in libdb4.7-dev so how are we supposed to
link against it at all?

As discussed in the bug log (#621383), we're going to make the transition
but please give us the time and revert the change. FWIW, this is blocking a
security fix (#622817) from sid.
-- 
Niko Tyni   ntyni at debian.org