[Reproducible-builds] Bug#772029: Bug#772029: debbindiff: please avoid hardcoded use of VIm

[Jonas Smedegaard]

Quoting Jérémy Bobbio (2014-12-04 16:15:02)
> Jonas Smedegaard:
>> I am not a VIm user, however, and its hardcoded use of that editor is
>> strongly discouraging for me (no, I do not use emacs either).
>>
>> Please consider recoding¹ to not rely on VIm-specific features, to
>> appeal also to users of other interactive editors.
>
> Feel free to provide another way to generate HTML diffs in a 
> reasonable amount of time (Python html diff is out of the picture) 
> which are readable. I've looked a bit before hacking the current 
> solution and nothing worked out.

Thanks for the challenge! :-)

If you have notes about the stuff you've already investigated (apart 
from 
http://technogems.blogspot.com/2011/09/generate-side-by-side-diffs-in-html.html 
that I've already found in the README) then please do share.  Else I'll 
try work from what I can guess based on current code.


> Users of debbindiff don't need to know anything about vim. Vim is not 
> used as an editor at all.

That is comforting - and was a third issue, apart from the ones 
mentioned further below: I suggest to mention that in long description, 
for those like me uncomfortable with the risk of getting "trapped" 
inside an editor with an arguable non-intuitive exit sequence.


> I don't see why it would be problematic to depend on vim as an 
> external tool, and how it would differ from msgunfmt (gettext package) 
> which is needed to process .mo files.

The issues I have are a) pulling in 28.8MB on my system, and b) 
introducing an editor that messes with system priorities among editors.

I don't insist that you should feel my pain, jsut share with you what 
makes me hesitate to install the tool.


 - Jonas

-- 
 * Jonas Smedegaard - idealist & Internet-arkitekt
 * Tlf.: +45 40843136  Website: http://dr.jones.dk/

 [x] quote me freely  [ ] ask before reusing  [ ] keep private
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