Re: removing libreadline from base system

On Thu, Dec 01, 2011 at 08:41:12PM -0600, Brooks Davis wrote:
> On Thu, Dec 01, 2011 at 05:55:37PM -0800, David O'Brien wrote:
> > On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 12:02:23PM +0700, Max Khon wrote:
> > > It is possible to build and link our in-tree gdb & friends with libedit
> > > after r228114.
> > > The remaining question is what to do with libreadline:
> > > 1) just build & link gdb with libedit
> > > OR
> > > 2) re-import libreadline from gdb sources and build INTERNALLIB version of
> > > it that is never installed and is linked only to gdb
> > 
> > Max,
> > What is the value in doing either?
> > 
> > libreadline isn't infecting any non-GPL code turning into GPLv2.
> > 
> > Some of use have fancy .input files, and quite frankly the vi mode of
> > libedit still doesn't work quite the same as libreadline.
> > 
> > If you go with (2) above, we'll still have *tons* of ports that want a
> > libreadline, so we'll just end up growing a port of it and we'll wind up
> > with a libreadline on the system anyway.
> 
> We are rapidly approaching the point where it will be practical to
> remove all GPL code from the base system (assuming we are willing to
> require external toolchains for some architectures) and a number of us
> are pushing to make this a reality for 10.0.

Agreed and known.  If the application(s) using libreadline weren't
already GPL I wouldn't have spoken up.

When I added the libreadline compatibility to libedit, I changed all the
non-GPL libreadline uses to libedit.


> If we have people willing
> to do the work now--as Max seems to be--then we might as well deal with
> the ports fallout from the removal of libreadline sooner rather than
> later.

I guess this is the real agenda?  To get ports to depend on an
/usr/ports' version of libreadline?

If so, can it please wait 6 months until we've gotten thru the current
nightmare that /usr/ports is on FreeBSD-CURRENT?

Until this November that most ports would not build on -current, one
still cannot 'pkg_add -r' anything, etc...

Right now, I don't think we need another thing different between FreeBSD
pre-10 and 10 that will be a /usr/ports headache.

-- 
-- David  (obrien_at_FreeBSD.org)