Request for review: perl-Number-Compare

[Paul Howarth]

Michael Schwendt wrote:
> On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 13:56:35 +0100, Paul Howarth wrote:
> 
> 
>>Michael Schwendt wrote:
>>
>>>On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 13:39:22 +0100, Paul Howarth wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Michael Schwendt wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 10:32:00 +0100, Paul Howarth wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>- I'd put %check after %install rather than after %clean, so that builds 
>>>>>>on rpm versions not supporting %check could still work.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>Does order of spec sections matter? (I don't think so)
>>>>
>>>>Current rpm versions run the %check scriptlet after %install, if %check 
>>>>is present.
>>>
>>>
>>>Regardless of where I put %check inside the spec? I can move the %files
>>>section at the top of the spec. Could I do the same with %check or
>>>%clean? ;)
>>
>>Try rearranging them and see.
>>
>>
>>>>Older rpm versions don't understand %check, and will barf when they come 
>>>>across it.
>>>
>>>
>>>That was not the questions.
>>> 
>>>
>>>
>>>>If instead you have:
>>>>
>>>>%install
>>>>...
>>>>%clean
>>>>...
>>>>%check || :
>>>>...
>>>>
>>>>then old versions of rpm 
>>>
>>>
>>>How old?
>>
>>rpm 4.0.something I think. Well before the dawn of Fedora. So for a spec 
>>file tailored for Extras, none of this matters. However, it's perfectly 
>>possible to write spec files that will build just fine on really old Red 
>>Hat Linuxes, and still meet Extras packaging guidelines. Obviously most 
>>people won't want to bother with that, and that's OK, but if they're not 
>>bothered about backwards compatibility, there's no need for the "|| :" 
>>after %check - and that's all my original comment was about in the review.
> 
> 
> No, actually (as can be seen in the quote at the very top of this mail)
> you suggested reordering %install and %check. Here:
> 
> 
>>- I'd put %check after %install rather than after %clean, so that builds 
>>on rpm versions not supporting %check could still work.
> 
> 
> I've never before payed attention to this. Hence my interest in
> the rationale for such a recommendation. And I'm still confused. Does
> it matter where to put the %check section in a spec? 
> 
> [I'm aware of "%check || :" from fedora.us times and multi-dist src.rpms,
> that are supposed to build on RHL 7.3, too, e.g.]

Let's try again:

If you want backwards compatbility, you need to use "%check || :" and 
the %check section must go after %install because on old distros, %check 
is not recognised as being the start of a new script. The result is that 
everything in %check gets run as part of the %install script on those 
systems.

If you don't want backwards compatbility, you can put %check and 
%install and %clean in any order you like and you don't need the "|| :" 
on the %check line.

Paul.