how much is dvipng needed?

Development matplotlib-devel
1

Hello guys,
since I'm going to update debian matplotlib pkg to 0.98.5 I'd like to
know how much dvipng lib is needed to let matplotlib work.

This is because adding a strong dependency on it (so that it's
installed everytime you install mpl) will take in even texlive, and
all its dependency, amounting in more than 200mb of space (an issue
presents even in ubuntu).

If dvipng (+texlive) is only needed for some "not-so-common"
situations (for example only to print complex math expression) then we
can move it to a wicker dependency, so that it's installed only if
expressly requested by the user (we'll inform users about this
change).

Thanks for the attention,

···

--
Sandro Tosi (aka morph, Morpheus, matrixhasu)
My website: http://matrixhasu.altervista.org/
Me at Debian: http://wiki.debian.org/SandroTosi

2

It's strictly optional, for the "usetex" mode, which is not turned on
by default. Our native mathtext is good enough for most use cases,
and those who want tex rendering can "apt-get install dvipng"

JDH

···

On Fri, Dec 12, 2008 at 6:21 PM, Sandro Tosi <morph@...12...> wrote:

Hello guys,
since I'm going to update debian matplotlib pkg to 0.98.5 I'd like to
know how much dvipng lib is needed to let matplotlib work.

3

Hi John,

···

On Sat, Dec 13, 2008 at 01:49, John Hunter <jdh2358@...149...> wrote:

On Fri, Dec 12, 2008 at 6:21 PM, Sandro Tosi <morph@...12...> wrote:

Hello guys,
since I'm going to update debian matplotlib pkg to 0.98.5 I'd like to
know how much dvipng lib is needed to let matplotlib work.

It's strictly optional, for the "usetex" mode, which is not turned on
by default. Our native mathtext is good enough for most use cases,
and those who want tex rendering can "apt-get install dvipng"

Thanks for the quick reply! I moved dvipng to Suggests (so that it
remains a trace of it in the package, for the users who want to
install it manually): the net result would be much less packages to
download (and install) to use mpl on Debian/Ubuntu.

Cheers,
--
Sandro Tosi (aka morph, Morpheus, matrixhasu)
My website: http://matrixhasu.altervista.org/
Me at Debian: http://wiki.debian.org/SandroTosi