Re: gettext in bootstrap-tools

[Paul Eggert]

On 07/31/10 07:46, Joel E. Denny wrote:
> For example, the user 
> might want to know what version of autoconf, automake, flex, or gnulib was 
> used to bootstrap bison, but I'm fairly confident that most people do not 
> care what version of Bourne shell or coreutils I happened to use during 
> bootstrap.  However, in general, I'm not sure how to find the line, and 
> specifically I'm not sure which side of the line gettext falls on.

Here's my rule of thumb.  If a package relies on standardized features,
such as those standardized by POSIX or the ISO, then there's little need
to say which version of the corresponding tools we're using; but if
a developer needs non-standardized features, such as automake or flex
or some special Bash extension, it's useful to give version info.
By this measure I'd say gettext falls on the "please give the version number"
side of the line.