From: Johannes Schindelin Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:35:36 GMT Subject: Re: [PATCH] Remove dependency on IO::String from Git.pm test Message-ID: In-Reply-To: <200806181952.02048.jnareb@gmail.com> Hi, On Wed, 18 Jun 2008, Jakub Narebski wrote: > On Wed, 18 Jun 2008, Johannes Schindelin wrote: > > > BTW I think it is not nice at all how the dependency hell with Git.pm > > is made worse recently. > > It is not dependency for Git.pm, but for Git.pm TEST. So? Why do you want to break the _test_ on those machines where you need them most? We _know_ that a release from Junio works fine on Linux. > > It is fascinating through how much _pain_ we go with the shell scripts > > to maintain portability, even with _very_ old or obscure systems (see > > the SCO server patches that came in not long ago!), and just walk over > > that portability when it comes to Perl... > > And I pointed out how it could be resolved (use 5.8 specific feature, or > IO::String, or skip tests). I have to point out that the platforms I was speaking of are not know to make upgrading as easy as Linux. And some of them _do_ come with pretty old perl. And yes, I had this exact issue (remember when I worked on removing Git's dependency on Python? That was it. Not enough quota. Uncooperative admin. Desperate need for a sensible SCM). In any case, I have to reiterate my point: breaking backwards-compatibility for _no_ good reason is wrong. I have not looked at the patch in question, but I seriously doubt that this is the easiest, most elegant (and yes, backwards-compatible) solution. Typically, it is not a good sign when you _require_ newer and newer features and versions of components you use. Whatever, Dscho