Bug#749451: libgtk-3-dev introduces dependency on C++ library

[Jamin Hoggard]

Thanks for the speedy reply (and all the work on the GTK packages).

I see what you described is correct: the Gtk3 binaries don't depend on
libstdc++; it is only the developer package which requires the
standard c++ library.  Looking at the dependencies, I think the actual
problem for my situation is that this introduces a dependency on g++
(so I probably should have reported it thus instead).

As for a concrete situation, I run Debian on a (highly) portable, low
power netbook in addition to my desktop system (I reported from my
desktop, so that is where the uname is from, sorry).  There is no big
problem on my desktop with adding g++, etc. but my netbook is quite
resource constrained (i.e. I think I have more storage on my Raspberry
Pi).  I don't use C++, just straight C, so I have had no need to
install C++ until I looked at installing gtk-3-dev to get some sweet
GUI.  I don't think my system is so constrained I couldn't install
g++, but it is constrained enough that I'd rather not if I don't
really need it.

I generally think that the Debian policy of avoiding embedded
libraries is wise.  It is a good idea not to have who knows how many
copies of a library floating around / bloating a system, and PCRE,
although small, seems to be the kind of library that could have some
serious security implications.  That said, your proposed solution of
splitting libpcre3-dev into C and C++ parts sounds like a better
solution to me.

Thanks,
Jamin