#1136422 Multiple packages FTBFS with libglew-dev

#1136422#5
Date:
2026-05-13 16:39:45 UTC
From:
To:
Ever since src:glew switched to the CMake build system (in 0cba00b9),
it's been causing FTBFS for multiple packages that depend on it. Here
are some examples:

mygui:

tulip:

avogadrolibs:

slop:

The upstream explicitly states in their README:

The crux of the problem is that when built with CMake, GLEW installs
CMake targets with hard-coded libraries in them:

dimitry@ki6OY5lO2Z:~$ grep set_target_properties -A3 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/cmake/glew/glew-targets.cmake
set_target_properties(GLEW::glew PROPERTIES
  INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES "/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu"
  INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libOpenGL.so;/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libGLX.so;/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libSM.so;/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libICE.so;/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libX11.so;/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXext.so"
)

Prior to this change, packages using GLEW relied on the CMake-provided
FindGLEW.cmake module.

GLEW itself does not seem to be using any of libSM, libICE, libX11 or
libXext:

dimitry@ki6OY5lO2Z:~$ objdump -p /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libGLEW.so | grep NEEDED
  NEEDED               libGLX.so.0
  NEEDED               libc.so.6

But, they are somehow pulled into their CMake targets, which looks like
a bug that they won't be eager to fix (based on the above).

Please either switch back to the Make-based system, or at the very
minimum do not install upstream's broken CMake targets.

Thank you,

Dimitry

#1136422#10
Date:
2026-05-13 19:48:48 UTC
From:
To:
We believe that the bug you reported is fixed in the latest version of
glew, which is due to be installed in the Debian FTP archive.

A summary of the changes between this version and the previous one is
attached.

Thank you for reporting the bug, which will now be closed.  If you
have further comments please address them to 1136422@bugs.debian.org,
and the maintainer will reopen the bug report if appropriate.

Debian distribution maintenance software
pp.
Alastair McKinstry <mckinstry@debian.org> (supplier of updated glew package)

(This message was generated automatically at their request; if you
believe that there is a problem with it please contact the archive
administrators by mailing ftpmaster@ftp-master.debian.org)
Format: 1.8
Date: Wed, 13 May 2026 20:17:52 +0100
Source: glew
Architecture: source
Version: 2.3.1+dfsg2-3
Distribution: unstable
Urgency: medium
Maintainer: Alastair McKinstry <mckinstry@debian.org>
Changed-By: Alastair McKinstry <mckinstry@debian.org>
Closes: 1136422
Changes:
 glew (2.3.1+dfsg2-3) unstable; urgency=medium
 .
   * Dont ship broken cmake files. Closes: #1136422
Checksums-Sha1:
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#1136422#15
Date:
2026-05-13 23:07:06 UTC
From:
To:
I would like to keep this open, until this is properly fixed.

Alastair, please push your changes to
https://salsa.debian.org/debian/glew so that I can submit new MR. Or,
would you rather me submit the patches here?

I've sent to patches to the upstream to (a) fix the CMake targets issue,
and (b) help remove some of the hacks you've done in d/rules.

I can submit new MR to salsa.

Dimitry

#1136422#24
Date:
2026-05-14 03:52:35 UTC
From:
To:
Attached are the patches that fix the CMake build system and also clean
up Debian packaging files.

Patches #1 and #2 have been submitted upstream:

https://github.com/nigels-com/glew/pull/477
https://github.com/nigels-com/glew/pull/478

They mainly deal with fixing their build system that's been causing
build failures in Debian.

Patch #3 removes quite a bit of hackery from d/rules and some old cruft
left over from the old Make build system. The only hackery left is to
rename EGL-based GLEW version into EGLEW and make it co-installable with
the GLX-based GLEW.

Patch #4 makes libeglew-dev usable as a standalone package.

I can submit these as an MR to https://salsa.debian.org/debian/glew once
it's updated with Alastrair's latest changes.

Regards,

Dimitry

#1136422#31
Date:
2026-05-14 04:58:40 UTC
From:
To:

#1136422#38
Date:
2026-05-14 07:20:11 UTC
From:
To:
I've pushed my patches. Thanks for your work on this.

Alastair

#1136422#43
Date:
2026-05-14 14:53:37 UTC
From:
To:
Alastair, I've submitted MR #4 in salsa:

https://salsa.debian.org/debian/glew/-/merge_requests/4

Added one more patch to move README.md into libglew-common-dev.


Thank you,
Dimitry

#1136422#50
Date:
2026-05-14 16:31:23 UTC
From:
To:
I've merged these and pushed the changes to unstable, thanks.

Note that creating libglew-common-dev will mean a delay in the NEW
queue, but it should only be a few hours/day or so.

Thanks

Alastair

#1136422#55
Date:
2026-05-15 14:23:44 UTC
From:
To:
Thanks, Alastair. FYI, patches #1 and #2 have both been accepted
upstream. I haven't seen the new version yet, but I think we can
close this bug now.

Dimo

#1136422#60
Date:
2026-05-16 06:04:29 UTC
From:
To:
We believe that the bug you reported is fixed in the latest version of
glew, which is due to be installed in the Debian FTP archive.

A summary of the changes between this version and the previous one is
attached.

Thank you for reporting the bug, which will now be closed.  If you
have further comments please address them to 1136422@bugs.debian.org,
and the maintainer will reopen the bug report if appropriate.

Debian distribution maintenance software
pp.
Alastair McKinstry <mckinstry@debian.org> (supplier of updated glew package)

(This message was generated automatically at their request; if you
believe that there is a problem with it please contact the archive
administrators by mailing ftpmaster@ftp-master.debian.org)
Format: 1.8
Date: Sat, 16 May 2026 06:30:17 +0100
Source: glew
Architecture: source
Version: 2.3.1+dfsg2-5
Distribution: unstable
Urgency: medium
Maintainer: Alastair McKinstry <mckinstry@debian.org>
Changed-By: Alastair McKinstry <mckinstry@debian.org>
Closes: 1136422 1136741
Changes:
 glew (2.3.1+dfsg2-5) unstable; urgency=medium
 .
   [ Dmitri Ishenko ]
   * d/control: add Replaces/Breaks for upgrade path
     Closes: #1136422, #1136741
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