Albretch Mueller wrote: > On 3/29/23, debian-u...@howorth.org.uk <debian-u...@howorth.org.uk> wrote: > > As others have pointed out, apt-get doesn't work like that. It seems to > > me that the gradle package is wrong in having java as a dependency, > > since the need can be resolved at run-time rather than install time, > > and by a dynamic link. So bug report the gradle package, not apt-get. > > Well, debian folks say it is gradle folks the ones that didn't get it > right and vice versa. > As you could see from their installation page, the one and only > installation prerequisite is a java version after the reflection API > was introduced. I would guess everyone who works from a Debian install > and need to install gradle is because they are using java already. > There have been 7 releases till JDK 19. > > Maybe debian packages should have various installation candidates > based on the JDK one has installed or during configuration of the > package if no java install is reachable it should look for it in the > filesystem and if it is still not found tell user and abort the > installation.
The way it works in practice is this: - if you want a system to provide services, Debian has a consistent and stable method. - if you want to develop new software or run the latest versions of some applications, you will need to bring in specialized infrastructure on top of Debian's stable base. If the software is destined to be a Debian package, testing or even unstable might be your preference, and cooperation with a Debian development team. The simplest development approach is with the most stable languages. If you're writing in one of the gcc or clang supported languages, the versions supplied by Debian are generally what you want to use. But if you see a specific library that is under current development, or you need to track recent releases, you will need to obtain it and keep it up to date yourself. Perl is quite stable, and has tooling to acquire modules and turn them into Debian packages that works very well most of the time. Java and Python are of medium stability. For most projects, a C-like approach will work, but if you need specific recent features, you will need to get the ones you want yourself. For some newer languages, like Go or Rust, where the language itself is still under significant development, starting with the Debian-supplied packages is really only suitable for learning the language. Once you start a serious development effort, you will definitely want to maintain your own copy from upstream. -dsr-
