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Should the `xxd` utility be listed as a dependency in my application?

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1 answer
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I'm distributing a desktop application and I'm unsure if xxd should be listed as a (build) dependency. My first though was not, since it's documented in the [Linux manpages](https://www.linux.org/docs/man1/xxd.html) and therefore should be available on all Linux machines, shoudln't it? (Correct me if I'm wrong) However I recently received some issues saying that the xxd was missing in their systems (Arch on Steam Deck and Debian). Doing some research found that in some distros the xxd binary is **only** distributed alongside vim as a dependency (See [this](https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/which-package-provides-xxd-could-not-figure-it-out/15866) and [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comments/5yznre/xxd_is_missing_in_neovim_package_in_arch_linux/)) , which confuses me even more, so I now depend on vim to be installed? Should I list xxd as a dependency or leave it up to the user to have the binary installed?
Asked by paoloose (113 rep)
Jul 31, 2023, 06:38 PM
Last activity: Jul 31, 2023, 06:51 PM