Comment 10 for bug 309163

> I can't reproduce the problem with this new build, but... it's linked
> against Lesstif, instead of the OpenMotif library.

As far as I can tell, I didn't change things there. Yes, it is build
using LessTif, but that was supposed to be the case with older versions
as well. I will investigate tonight (CET). (see also below)

> That changes things completely---and the upstream doesn't seem too
> fond of the idea, as the program prints
>
> nedit: WARNING: This version of NEdit is built incorrectly, and will
> be unstable. nedit: Please get a stable version of NEdit from
> http://www.nedit.org.

I know, I had to tweak things in the build parameters. I will see if I
can take out that warning (which was also done in the 5.5 version). The
5.5 Nedit just didn't know about version 0.95 of lesstif and accepted
that version. Nedit 5.6 does throw the warning. As far as I can tell
they included lesstif 0.95 mainly because of bug 124573 [1], which I
intend to work on heavily the next coming time. I am also reading nedit
upstreams mail lists and documentation.

> As I recall, the NEdit folks don't like to use Lesstif because the
> program makes heavy use of the Motif API, and Lesstif's subtle
> differences with "official" Motif are a source of headaches that
> they'd rather not deal with.

Agreed.

> I'd like to think that Lesstif has evolved to the point where even
> these kinds of uber-Motif apps can use it without a problem, but
> that's a determination that can only be made with a lot of careful
> review and validation. I'm hoping that this change isn't being made
> willy-nilly---as much as I'd love for NEdit to use all free- software
> libraries, there are long-standing technical reasons why this is not
> (yet) the case.

As far as I can tell (but correct me if I am wrong) it has been the
strategy in Debian (and thus (?) in Ubuntu) to build against lesstif.
And yes, lesstif needs some love, which I am also trying to give to it
in the near future (see my PPA as well).

Paul

[1] https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/lesstif2/+bug/124573