5
Do _you_ care about library requirements?
ShelLuser
Hi gang!
Library requirements, to me, are the bane of evil. I really don't like them. They add overhead (=extra loading times), the amount of loaded mods shoots up by one and more than often... I fail to understand the need. I just want to use your one mod, why do you force me into this mess?
I mean: it's as if mod authors are simply assuming that "obviously" you're going to be using more of their mods, because why wouldn't you? That's kinda arrogant I think.
Now, sure, it can have its advantages. For example... in my opinion "Integrated Dynamics" is so much better with "Integrated Tunnels" as well, so to have both mods use the same library makes perfect sense. Or what about the Thermal Series?
But why not make this optional?
The moment you're dealing with a mod that provides a very specific function yet still insists on using a dedicated library mod then I stop caring. Here I was, looking for a backpack mod. Sure enough... I found some: but many of them required another library and sometimes even other mods. I just skipped those, why would I want to add extra "bloat" to my server?
Not to mention that I think it's plain out laughable if the developer only has 2 active mods in total.
What do you think?
Library requirements, to me, are the bane of evil. I really don't like them. They add overhead (=extra loading times), the amount of loaded mods shoots up by one and more than often... I fail to understand the need. I just want to use your one mod, why do you force me into this mess?
I mean: it's as if mod authors are simply assuming that "obviously" you're going to be using more of their mods, because why wouldn't you? That's kinda arrogant I think.
Now, sure, it can have its advantages. For example... in my opinion "Integrated Dynamics" is so much better with "Integrated Tunnels" as well, so to have both mods use the same library makes perfect sense. Or what about the Thermal Series?
But why not make this optional?
The moment you're dealing with a mod that provides a very specific function yet still insists on using a dedicated library mod then I stop caring. Here I was, looking for a backpack mod. Sure enough... I found some: but many of them required another library and sometimes even other mods. I just skipped those, why would I want to add extra "bloat" to my server?
Not to mention that I think it's plain out laughable if the developer only has 2 active mods in total.
What do you think?
Poll ended 05/25/2025 8:28 am.
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4
Libraries aren't anything new… back with the original COBOL there was no native multiplication operator, so [virtually] ervery instalation added it through a library function.
The current issue [IMO] is that there are too many libraries and too much in the libraries.
If a library contains code to accomplish a dozen things , of which I need one, I don't want it.
Ideally, there should be a small number of libraries, each of which provide a linked group of functions…
Without a central authority [and – no – MS/Mj is absolutely not recommended for that role], however, I don't see that happening.
To some extent the various competing mod loaders are another example of this, but at least the number is more managable.
With all that said, i would be great if mods were issued in both stand alone and leaner library requiring versions, thus catering to both sets of players.
[Given that most are either free or 'beer-money' projects, however, that's probably too big an 'ask']
The current issue [IMO] is that there are too many libraries and too much in the libraries.
If a library contains code to accomplish a dozen things , of which I need one, I don't want it.
Ideally, there should be a small number of libraries, each of which provide a linked group of functions…
Without a central authority [and – no – MS/Mj is absolutely not recommended for that role], however, I don't see that happening.
To some extent the various competing mod loaders are another example of this, but at least the number is more managable.
With all that said, i would be great if mods were issued in both stand alone and leaner library requiring versions, thus catering to both sets of players.
[Given that most are either free or 'beer-money' projects, however, that's probably too big an 'ask']
It would be great if all the stuff the mod libraries added were included in the Fabric API, since it’s already (mostly) mandatory to install that.
Great for Fabric users…
Which might provide motivation for the people who run Fabric [or one of the competitors] to undertake to compile, prune, optimize, and curate such a library.
[Just piling it all into one would be more convenient, but would only increase the bloat one had to download. The way libraries are supposed to work is that they offer standardized and highly optimized code for common tasks. (Back in the day, this meant that libraries for things like multiply or sort_a_list were actually written in machine code and hacked for maximum performance. IBM used to be very good at this as the access to the libraries – which came free with the mainframe – was one of their selling points.) ]
Which might provide motivation for the people who run Fabric [or one of the competitors] to undertake to compile, prune, optimize, and curate such a library.
[Just piling it all into one would be more convenient, but would only increase the bloat one had to download. The way libraries are supposed to work is that they offer standardized and highly optimized code for common tasks. (Back in the day, this meant that libraries for things like multiply or sort_a_list were actually written in machine code and hacked for maximum performance. IBM used to be very good at this as the access to the libraries – which came free with the mainframe – was one of their selling points.) ]
I do think libraries made by the same dev are redundant, and should just be included, but a lot of mods rely on libraries that other developers made. Cloth Config is a popular example, it'd be pointless for a developer to create their own config system when a mod like that already exists. But I guess those count less as libraries.
