Re: argz whitespace

[Bob Friesenhahn]

On Tue, 20 May 2008, Bob Friesenhahn wrote:
> There is a palpable cost to renaming libltdl/argz_.h and the cost should be 
> carefully considered before renaming files.  Have you considered the cost? 
> What is the value behind this change and is the value obtained greater than 
> the cumulative cost?

It comes to mind that perhaps the reason for the cost is not clear. 
This apparently minor change causes these issues:

* Template libltdl source code footprint changes.  This means that on 
a system where installed files are not precisely controlled by a 
package manager (so the prior version is completely uninstalled), 
after an upgrade, we are left with stale residue which remains for the 
rest of time.

* Every package using libltdl incorporates a copy of it.  These copies 
are maintained in version control systems.  The maintainer of the 
package needs to notice the change (unlikely since it is unexpected) 
so that the new name can be added, and the old name removed. 
Eventually the problem will be noticed, but only after it has caused 
some harm. Currently packages using libltdl offer to install the 
packaged version so there is opportunity for even more churn.

Now that libtool 2.2 is out the door we need to be conservative about 
file additions, removals, and renames in libltdl.

Bob
======================================
Bob Friesenhahn
address@hidden, http://www.simplesystems.org/users/bfriesen/
GraphicsMagick Maintainer,    http://www.GraphicsMagick.org/