Changes/GettextRuntimeSubpackage

Split Gettext Package

Summary

Moving the larger translation tools from the gettext base package into a separate tools sub-package.

Owner

• Name: Sundeep ANAND
• Email: suanand@redhat.com
• Name: Jens Petersen
• Email: petersen@redhat.com

Current status

• Targeted release: Fedora Linux 37
• Last updated: 2022-06-07
• FESCo issue:
• Tracker bug:
• Release notes tracker:

Detailed Description

Gettext is one of the core packages. Its installed on-disk size is about ~6.1 MB. A large number of packages directly or indirectly depend on it. Extracting "tools" from main gettext package into a separate sub-package would reduce the footprint by about ~4.7 MB on most normal installations.

After the split this should look like:

gettext package
--------------------
compressed size: 172 kB
uncompressed size: 749.6 kB

gettext-tools subpackage
------------------------
compressed size: 1.0 MB
uncompressed size: 4.7 MB

As gettext depends on gettext-libs:

gettext-libs subpackage
-----------------------
compressed size: 322K
uncompressed size: 933.7 kB

Grouping of binaries:

gettext:
envsubst gettext gettext.sh ngettext

gettext-tools:
msgattrib msgcat msgcmp msgcomm msgconv msgen msgexec msgfilter msgfmt msggrep msginit msgmerge msgunfmt msguniq recode-sr-latin xgettext

Feedback

• initial devel thread floating the idea (April 2022)

Benefit to Fedora

Space saving of about ~4.7 MB for typical installations.

Scope

• Proposal owners:
  • Update the gettext package in all Fedora branches including rawhide to add Provides: gettext-tools for forward compatibility [done for rawhide]
  • File bugs against packages that require gettext-tools or gettext-devel at runtime and hence need to be updated to depend on it.
  • Before the Mass Rebuild:
    • In Rawhide dist-git change all packages with BuildRequires: gettext to BuildRequires: gettext-tools (this affects about 1100+ Fedora source packages)
    • Update the Rawhide gettext package to have the new gettext-tools subpackage, which pulls in the gettext base package (PR)
  • Before branching, complete updating any remaining Requires: gettext in packages, which require gexttext-tools at runtime and weren't updated in time by their package maintainers.

• Other developers:
  • Packagers who own packages that have a direct runtime dependency on gettext (estimated to be not more than 30 packages) and actually need gettext-tools have to change their Requires: gettext to the new gettext-tools subpackage in Rawhide (roughly around 10 Fedora packages). (This should be a safe change even if they really only actually require gettext.)

• Release engineering:
  • Just need to confirm that all BuildRequires changes have landed in dist-git ahead of the mass rebuild.

• Policies and guidelines: N/A (not needed for this Change)

• Trademark approval: N/A (not needed for this Change)

• Alignment with Objectives:

Upgrade/compatibility impact

Both "gettext" and "gettext-tools" obsoletes earlier version of gettext.
So, on update both packages will get installed on systems having gettext. (preinstalled)

For current older Fedora releases gettext should Provides: gettext-tools for forward compatibility.

How To Test

• Use copr repo: https://copr.fedorainfracloud.org/coprs/suanand/gettext-tools/
• Test upgrades from F36 to F37
• Test minimal/default installs continue to work as expected
• Packages that depend on gettext continue to rebuild, install, and function normally

User Experience

User will see lighter gettext package and a new gettext-tools package.
Many of the desktop/web apps/libraries use gettext-tools. They would need to update their dependency to "gettext-tools" now. This subpackaging is also the recommended packaging by upstream and corresponds to Debian's gettext-base and gettext packages.

Dependencies

Packages which explicitly have a dependency on gettext need to check if they need programs provided by gettext-tool, and if so they need to update their dependency to "gettext-tools" from gettext.

Perhaps about ~26 packages require gettext and ~1115 packages have build dependency.
Furthermore, gettext-tools has a dependency to gettext.

Contingency Plan

• Contingency mechanism: (What to do? Who will do it?) Change owners will revert the relevant packages updated.
  • (Provides: gettext-tools could be put back in the base package if necessary to simplify the reverting)
• Contingency deadline: Beta freeze
• Blocks release? No

Documentation

https://git.savannah.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=gettext.git;a=blob;f=PACKAGING

Release Notes

A gettext-tools package has been added to gettext to separate out the larger gettext translation utilities that are not commonly used at runtime.