[GRASS-dev] winGRASS compilation: perl not found (needed for MAN)

[Glynn Clements]

Hamish wrote:

> >>>> Maybe we should use the Python version from 7.0? Many users
> >>>> will want Python anyhow, whereas Perl is only used for
> >>>> g.html2man.
> Hamish:
> >>> At this point, my vote, AFA 6.4.0 goes, is to follow the
> >>> path of least change. Which is to keep the existing perl
> >>> script.
> Martin:
> >> OK, anyway I would vote to replace Perl script in 6.5.
> Markus:
> > Agreed - we may then backport to 6.4.1 if possible and stable.
> 
> actually now that I think about it, this is much more of a
> shift in policy and I'm not sure if we should think about it
> for 6.5 either.
> 
> Remember that currently python is not a mandatory build dep for
> GRASS 6.x.
> 
> Also AFAIK python does not come preinstalled on e.g. debian as
> a base package, but perl does.
> 
> So we are making python a mandatory build dep for ... getting
> man(1) pages working on MS Windows ?? seems very dis-
> proportionate to me.

Why is making a Python a mandatory build dependency worse than making
Perl a mandatory build dependency? At least Python is useful for other
things, while Perl is *only* used for g.html2man.

As for the merits of the two versions of g.html2man: the Python
version can handle tables, although the Perl version has the advantage
that it can't fail (it may produce garbage, but AFAICT it will produce
*something* so long as the input file exists).

IMHO, the main reason to stick with the Perl version isn't down to
which language to make a required dependency, but the effort required
to clean up the 6.x manpages.

-- 
Glynn Clements <glynn at gclements.plus.com>