Quoting "Wichmann, Mats D" <mats.d.wichmann@xxxxxxxxx>:
Anyway, the idea of LSB is to build distro-independent rpms, which means we don't want anything which identifies a target distro - if it needs that, it's by definition not distro-independent.
Distribution independent RPMs are a noble goal. However, reality check is in order here.
When I write "distribution" in this email, I mean specific version of specific distribution. I don't mean "latest available version".
The thing is, there is no such thing as 100% distribution independent RPM. Good luck attempting to install any non-trivial RPM built for Fedora Core 4 on Red Hat 7.3. Distributions evelove, in non-backward compatible ways. If nothing else, the versions of libraries change, the kernels change.
Sometimes it is possible to build on older distribution (for example, it might be possible to install most/some Red Hat 7.3 RPMs on Fedora Core, provided compatibility libraries are available). Sometimes it isn't (for example, packages that specifically depend on 2.4 or 2.6 kernels). Even when possible, it results in suboptimal packages that require obsoleted libraries in newer distributions.
So, instead of attempting to do something impossible, why not concentrate on something realistically possible. Building RPMs that can be installed on defined group of distributions. An example would be Fedora Core 3 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 (and other non-Red Hat distributions released in same timeframe). That is where I see the value of LSB. But then, we need something to identify the group. The simplest thing is to have distribution identifier and apply some common sense to it. If RPM package says "built on fc3", it's OK to install on fc4, rhel4, compatible version of mandrake and others (hooray LSB), but obviously not on rhl73. If it says "built on rhl73", I guess installing it on rhl8 and rhel3 should be still OK, it might work on newer ones like rhel4 too (with obsoleted compatibility libraries), but the user should be aware it is suboptimal solution and the package should be rebuilt if possible.
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