Re: [bug-gnulib] new module gettext-h for programs that don't use i18n

[Paul Eggert]

Bruno Haible <address@hidden> writes:

> I would therefore now suggest to undo the earlier commodity hacks and
> return to a state where the modules/* files represent the real dependencies.
> Namely, add back 'xalloc-die' as dependency to those modules need it.
> Not sure about 'unlocked-io'.

Thanks for adding --avoid, and I can see how it works for xalloc-die,
but I'm still a bit lost, not only about unlocked-io, but also about
gettext-h.

unlocked-io can always be omitted, but it should be avoided if any
multithreaded code might use it.  This is sort of a negative
dependency, in a way.  (If you omit unlocked-io you lose performance,
but the same API works.)

gettext is somewhat similar to unlocked-io.  It can always be omitted
if you use gettext-h.  (You lose functionality, but the same API works.)

xalloc-die, in contrast, doesn't have a substitute in gnulib; if you
don't use gnulib xalloc-die but some gnulib code needs it, you have to
implement it yourself (that is, the same API will not work unless you
implement it).  This seems to be what --avoid is for.