[wataru]

I recently started listing one of my projects on Freshmeat.net, and I've been wondering about this: You can list dependencies for your project, but does that imply to the reader that you have to download and install the dependencies in order to use your software?

For instance, one of my apps uses rsync, but it bundles it inside the .app itself, so you don't have to download it separately. In that case, should I list rsync as a dependency? What about Bash? Should I list that as a dependency, even though 99% of users won't have to go out of their way to install it? When you list a dependency, you choose a version to be dependent on. If I choose Bash 2.05 (the version that ships with Panther), does that imply that Bash 3.0 is not ok?

I'm thinking I shouldn't even bother listing dependencies at all, since all of them are either bundled with the app, or are pre-installed on all of my target audience's machines.

[saddino]

I think the dependencies on Freshmeat are code dependencies, i.e. libraries, SDKs and frameworks that someone else will need in order to compile your code. If a vanilla Mac OS X Developer installation can compile your code, then there are no dependencies. If you require zlib (for example), then instead of including it with your code, you can simply list it as a dependency.

[wataru]

That's the thing... You can't really compile my code. It's just a shell script built into an app with Platypus.

[Wevah]

I'd say that there are no dependencies, then, unless you feel that Platypus is one.

[wataru]

Ok, thanks. That makes sense.