Re: MacOS X 10.7 and gettext

[Gary V. Vaughan]

Hi Bruno,

On 5 Oct 2011, at 03:01, Bruno Haible wrote:
> Jim Meyering wrote:
>> I don't see why everyone should accept an older version
>> just because a build-glitch affects one type of system.  The work-around
>> is trivial.
> 
> Additionally, the "normal" way to install packages, for people who
> are not used to fiddling with source code, is through MacPorts,
> and MacPorts carries gettext 0.18.1.1 with the fix.

Actually MacPorts is not that widely used anymore, most people have long
since migrated to Homebrew, which has a much better policy of not reinstalling
packages that come with the system - so you don't need two copies of Perl,
Python, Ruby, Autotools etc. Homebrew just builds the missing packages using
the system tools and libraries wherever possible.

>> I guess Bruno may read this, but still.
>> It's been over 100 commits since 0.18.1.1.
>> Maybe the report of a build problem like that
>> will encourage him to make a new release.
> 
> If there was no MacPorts, I would make a new gettext release ASAP,
> so as not to exclude MacOS X 10.7 users. But given that MacPorts
> exists, the priority of a new gettext release is decreased.

No doubt some folks are still using MacPorts, and it is a useful source of
patches when I trip over something that doesn't build out of the box, although
as they lose developers that situation will probably get worse... AFAICT the
process of porting to Lion is still ongoing with MacPorts, where Homebrew
has dozens of commits every day and long since moved to Lion.

If it's easy for you, I would love to see a new gettext release... and if
not, I think a large font warning that the latest released version needs a
patch from MacPorts to compile on  Mac OS would save plenty of Homebrew
users from scratching their heads :)

Cheers,
-- 
Gary V. Vaughan (gary AT gnu DOT org)