[Slackbuilds-users] PyQt5 requirements

[Christoph Willing]

On 07/02/17 13:40, Daniel Prosser wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I asked the maintainer of PyQt5 this question a couple weeks ago but
> didn't get a response, so I thought I would ask the group. PyQt5 lists
> qt5-webkit as a required dependency, but it builds and runs (at least
> for my use case) fine without it. Is there a reason why it is listed as
> a requirement? I was under the impression that requirements should be
> needed either to build or run the software.

I think that statement should be something more like:
    "requirements should be needed to build or run the software
so that it has some level of usefulness"

SBo SlackBuilds and packages generally (as far as I know) don't aim to
be minimalist. They don't aim to  provide the barest possible pieces of
software with as few requirements as possible. The resulting software
needs to provide some amount utility, not just exist as an example of
how few requirements it needs.

The level of usefulness is decided by the maintainer. In this case it
appears the maintainer believes qt5-webkit is needed to make the built
software useful - to them anyway.

> In the case of qt5-webkit,
> it also takes a long time to compile, so for most people it would be
> preferred not to install it if not needed.
> 
The fact that something is not useful (and time consuming, in this case)
to you doesn't necessarily mean that "most people" feel the same way (or
differently for that matter). If you don't need it, just leave it out.

chris