Make libbacktrace an optional dependency #434
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mjakeman
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Jul 5, 2023
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Hi, thanks for working on this!
I think it makes sense that backtraces should be optional; it's only really to help debug issues, and it's hardly a required dependency, so this keeps the dependency footprint light.
Could you address the one comment below?
Otherwise, very happy to merge.
libbacktrace is not available in some distributions where Extension Manager is available as a native package, e.g. Gentoo [1], Debian [2]. On Debian, the native package maintainers have had to apply a downstream patch [2] that removes and masks all code interfacing with libbacktrace. However, when libbacktrace is available, the backtraces it helps to collect in the event of an app crash might still be useful, so removing the libbacktrace dependency completely is not the best solution for all cases, i.e. not a good change to be submitted to the Extension Manager upstream. Making Extension Manager's dependency on libbacktrace optional is better: it allows both these distributions to continue shipping this app without downstream patching, and users who install this app via Flathub or other distributions that support libbacktrace to report crashes with helpful backtraces. This commit introduces a new 'backtrace' Meson boolean option, which controls whether Extension Manager is to be built with libbacktrace. It is set to 'true' by default, so existing build pipelines, e.g. the first-party Flatpak builds for Flathub, behave the same as before. Folks who wish to build Extension Manager without libbacktrace can do it by setting '-Dbacktrace=false' in Meson command-line options. [1]: https://gitweb.gentoo.org/repo/gentoo.git/commit/?id=c99e8159e6cb8705227aab759359c158f52b64bd [2]: https://salsa.debian.org/gnome-team/gnome-shell-extension-manager/-/commit/a7cccc5486ebeca2597aeab2ea5d6c74b17488b0 Signed-off-by: Yuan Liao <liaoyuan@gmail.com>
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libbacktrace is not available in some distributions where Extension Manager is available as a native package, e.g. Gentoo, Debian. Yet the backtraces that libbacktrace helps to collect are vital information for a crash report.
To help both these distributions continue shipping Extension Manager as a native package and users who install this app via Flathub report crashes with backtraces, I have created this patch to make libbacktrace an optional dependency. It introduces a new
backtraceMeson boolean option, which controls whether Extension Manager is to be built with libbacktrace. It is set totrueby default, so existing build pipelines, e.g. this repo's GitHub Action workflow, behave the same as before. Folks who wish to build Extension Manager without libbacktrace can do it by setting-Dbacktrace=falsein Meson command-line options.I have tested this patch through the Gentoo GURU package for Extension Manager, which I maintain, for about a month now without any observation of issues.
If better names and string descriptions should be used for the Meson option (
backtrace), the preprocessor macro (WITH_BACKTRACE), or the log messages, please feel free to suggest, and I am willing to update this patch using them.