[haiku-development] Re: software organization/installation

David McPaul <dlmcpaul@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
 ...
> Unfortunately,developers are unable to
> create shared libraries that maintain
> backward compatability and it is too easy
> to replace a newer version with an older
> version and so break apps.
> 
> Having 1 directory for all libraries leads to dll hell and without a
> good installer, dependency hell
> Having a library folder per application wastes some disk space but 
> the
> user and developer knows that the application will just work out of
> the box.
> 
> If the library needs updating then the developer is likely to release
> a new version with the new library after appropriate testing.
> 
> The end user is also welcome to run a query to find all locations of
> the library, replace them with whatever they found on a russian web
> site and cross their fingers. :-)

How can a user (or a package manager) know, before-
hand, without trying, which later/earlier versions
of a library will work for a certain application?

This ever-shifting landscape is why I think out-of-band
metadata and dependency updates are a necessity.

Could a package manager alter a package, switching
between using private and shared libraries?
(Depending on what's best for the software collection
as a whole, maybe.)

Can't shared libraries be versioned and applications
semi-firmly tied to a version, for as long as that 
version is the recommended version?

/Jonas.

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