Policies/Draft/Dependencies Policy

Dependencies Policy

DRAFT POLICY This policy draft is based on a discussion on the k-c-d list.

This policy outlines the requirements around choosing new dependencies for KDE Software in general and the KDE Development Platform in particular.

• All new dependencies must be advised to the kde-build and kde-packager lists
• Any changes to KDE Development Platform dependencies (or to KDE Support

projects that the dev platform depends on) to be discussed on k-c-d first

• Only depend on packages with a stable release
• Pick dependencies with api/abi guarantees or well managed .so versioning
• What's our attitude to inherited dependencies at both build and runtime,

i.e. are libraries or services that use GConf/DConf/Glib/etc acceptable?

• Optional dependencies preferred, try ensure a sensible fallback if not

available

See also:

• http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.7_Release_Schedule#Thursday.2C_May_12.2C_2011:_KDE_4.7_Dependency_Freeze
• http://techbase.kde.org/Policies/Library_Code_Policy#External_Dependencies

Maybe additionally there should be a check comparing the "cost" of the new dependency vs. its benefits, i.e. how much feature it brings or how much timne/work it saves compared to doing it self.