[pkg-wpa-devel] Bug#612842: Please make dependendency on libpcsclite1 optional

[Ludovic Rousseau]

2011/2/13 Michael Biebl <biebl at debian.org>:
> On 11.02.2011 21:43, Ludovic Rousseau wrote:
>> reassign 612842 wpasupplicant
>> thank
>>
>
> Hm, I don't see how libpcsclite1 depending on pcscd is a bug in wpasupplicant.
> Could you elaborate?

wpasupplicant depends on libpcsclite1 to add support of smart cards.
libpcsclite1 has dependencies on other packages, in particular
indirectly on libhal.

Adding smart card support has a (high) cost for every body, including
the vast majority of wpasupplicant users with no smart card.

The best solution is for spasupplicant to use the libpcsclite1 library
only when needed/requested by the user.
Use dlopen() instead of a direct link, and change the Depends: to a
Suggests: instead.

I proposed a patch [1] in Debian bug #531592

The wpasupplicant Debian packagers decided to completely remove smart
card support [2]. I don't know if using dlopen() to add smart card
support back is on the roadmap.

Bye

[1] http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?msg=10;filename=patch.txt;att=1;bug=531592
[2] http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=612715#25

-- 
 Dr. Ludovic Rousseau