On Thu, 2025-02-27 at 13:09 +0100, Adrian Schröter wrote:
Build flags were often a problem since they could not be transfered into other projects as things like repository names did change. Also problems with old build results lead to issues where content is not rebuildable. So our vision so far is to obsolete them and try to stick to the exclude mechanic only. This can be specified in the package source already (eg. ExcludeArch in spec files or special tags in Dockerfile or kiwi files).
We have no replacement for useforbuild yet. It could be added, but do we have really a usecase for it? In the past it caused mostly trouble. It is easy to add, if there is a usecase.
I mostly use "useforbuild" to 'come out of trouble' in devel projects like Base:System, where bootstrap cycles are a pita; Granted, it's a special case, and if used unwisely, results in fun/weird issues, as you correctly state. Also, disabled packages' have lead to many questions towards me why something would behave in a devel prj as it did - and often it was indeed a stale, disabled package being used. As usual: aiming the gun at your foot and shooting will hurt; aiming at the center of the proper target helps.