SDL_ttf submodule isn't using a stable version

[JayFoxRox]

See #455 (comment) for more information

[Margen67]

The latest stable (2.0.15) uses a newer version of FreeType (libsdl-org/SDL_ttf@5845edd) which causes build errors I presume due to this line:

nxdk/lib/sdl/Makefile

Line 7 in 9519fbd

FREETYPE_DIR = $(NXDK_DIR)/lib/sdl/SDL_ttf/external/freetype-2.4.12

I tried to fix it and got a different error:
https://github.com/Margen67/nxdk/actions/runs/744268552

Updating SDL_ttf to libsdl-org/SDL_ttf@f00286b (the commit before the breaking one) works.

[JayFoxRox]

Thanks for the effort @Margen67
(I also came across your work on OpenRCT2 by accident; thanks for all the FOSS work you do)

My conclusion from your experience: It's probably best to just leave SDL_ttf as-is for now.

Because nxdk has a custom-made out-of-tree build-system for libs (a truly horrible situation) we'd have to update our own freetype makefile:

nxdk/lib/sdl/Makefile

Lines 7 to 19 in 9519fbd

	FREETYPE_DIR = $(NXDK_DIR)/lib/sdl/SDL_ttf/external/freetype-2.4.12
	FREETYPE_SRCS += $(FREETYPE_DIR)/src/base/ftbase.c
	FREETYPE_SRCS += $(FREETYPE_DIR)/src/base/ftglyph.c
	FREETYPE_SRCS += $(FREETYPE_DIR)/src/base/ftbitmap.c
	FREETYPE_SRCS += $(FREETYPE_DIR)/src/base/ftstroke.c
	FREETYPE_SRCS += $(FREETYPE_DIR)/src/base/ftinit.c
	FREETYPE_SRCS += $(FREETYPE_DIR)/src/base/ftsystem.c
	FREETYPE_SRCS += $(FREETYPE_DIR)/src/truetype/truetype.c
	FREETYPE_SRCS += $(FREETYPE_DIR)/src/raster/raster.c
	FREETYPE_SRCS += $(FREETYPE_DIR)/src/smooth/smooth.c
	FREETYPE_SRCS += $(FREETYPE_DIR)/src/autofit/autofit.c
	FREETYPE_SRCS += $(FREETYPE_DIR)/src/sfnt/sfnt.c
	FREETYPE_OBJS = $(addsuffix .obj, $(basename $(FREETYPE_SRCS)))

This is probably missing ftgzip, but then we probably also have to update the "ft[...].h" configuration files in https://github.com/XboxDev/nxdk/tree/master/lib/sdl. It's way too risky to break something in an upgrade.

It's usually best to start from scratch, because otherwise you risk overlooking something.
However, even then you'd be wasting the maintainers time on review, for a rarely used library.

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The maintenance overhead because of the stupid nxdk buildsystem is way too high; it distracts from working on Xbox related tasks (like drivers or winapi, which the nxdk project should focus on). It also doesn't scale with the amount of library ports that are getting proposed, and the pace at which libraries get updated.

I hope that SDL_ttf will eventually be removed from nxdk; it builds out-of-box with JayFoxRox#83 (which is a much better path for nxdk: become usable with existing tools).