resolve potentially conflicting python-vtk rosdep rules

[tfoote]

We seem to have several python-vtk rules including python-vtk python-vtk5 and pcl has a dependency on python-vtk6

I'm opening this ticket to make sure we determine that it's ok, or resolve which ones we should have as rules. If they all don't conflict and can be installed side by side great. But otherwise we probably need to deconflict.

Recent discussions related:

• python-vtk for wily and xenial #10740
• some part of PCL should probably depend on python-vtk and libvtk-java ros-perception/perception_pcl#44 (comment)
• add ffmpeg, libtiff and vtk for Wily and Xenial #10747

[vrabaud]

In Kinetic, OpenCV3 cannot be installed along PCL right now because of a conflict between libvtk5-dev and libvtk6-dev but:

• OpenCV only needs a runtime dependency on VTK.
• VTK 6 would workwith OpenCV3 so we can change the key in rosdep (and specify a version in REP 003)

Pros for VTK6 by default:

• The latest VTK 5 is from 2012 (cf http://www.vtk.org/doc/release/5.10/html/) and VTK 6 got released in 2013 (https://blog.kitware.com/whats-new-in-vtk-6/)
• VTK7 even got released 2 months ago

Cons:

• Ubuntu's default is still VTK5: http://packages.ubuntu.com/source/xenial/vtk (and that's the reason why I set vtk5 as the key in the rosdep rules)

[tfoote]

I think that we need to go with libvtk6-dev to be compatible with libpcl.

Note that the link above connecting vtk to libvtk-dev is just the source package name. There's a second source package vtk6 http://packages.ubuntu.com/source/xenial/vtk6

Looking at the rdepends (below) it does not look like there are any major things which require libvtk5-dev

This is an apt-cache rdepends search on a xenial docker instance.

root@12bf7e726429:/# apt-cache rdepends libvtk5-dev
libvtk5-dev
Reverse Depends:
  libvtk5-qt4-dev
  vtk-examples
  vtk-doc
  science-viewing-dev
  science-viewing
  med-imaging-dev
  libvtk6-dev
  libvtk6-dev
  libvtk5.10
  libvtk5-qt4-dev
  libvtk-java
  libvtk5-qt4-dev
root@12bf7e726429:/# apt-cache rdepends libvtk6-dev
libvtk6-dev
Reverse Depends:
  libvtk6-qt-dev
  vtk6-examples
  vtk6-doc
  science-viewing-dev
  libvtk6-qt-dev
  libvtk6-java
  libvtk6-qt-dev
  libpcl-dev

[jacquelinekay]

also @vrabaud can you be more specific about the package conflict you are running into in the current state of things? I was able to install libpcl-dev and ros-kinetic-opencv3 alongside each other, maybe you're referring to a different opencv package that pulls in libvtk5-dev--it seems that ros-kinetic-opencv3 depends only on libvtk5. I'm all for going with libvtk6-dev if it's necessary but I just wanted to check

[vrabaud]

I am on Xenial maybe that's why; the conflict is a standard package conflict.

[vrabaud]

ok, releasing OpenCV3 with the new rosdep and ARM fix. Good night !

[tfoote]

immediate conflict resolved replaced by #11488 for high level tracking