linkage.c is needed to build Mail::Cclient Perl module and maybe other applications too. linkage.c should be installed by imap-devel.
If the Mail::Cclient Perl module requires a portion of the IMAP package source code, then the package building this perl module should include the linkage.c file itself. This should be done by extracting it from the source package and including it in the src.rpm of the perl module package. Development packages do not install source code files.
c-client/linkage.c is not a common source file. It does not exist in the IMAP source distribution, it is built on the fly when IMAP is compiled and built. Please read docs/internal.txt. It explains the purpose of linkage.c and why it should be included in imap-devel. If linkage.c is not included in imap-devel, then the people would have to rebuild IMAP from the source .rpm for their platform and copy the linkage.c file from the build repository before it is deleted.
This is a horrible hack at best... however... I've looked into it, and it does appear that it is needed, so I'm adding it to /usr/include/imap for you. What all applications in the distribution/powertools/whatever do you think are affected by this? They may need to be rebuilt.
Unfortunately I don't know what other products may be affected. Thank you for your support!
No problem. You convinced me to see the light. ;o) The updated imap package is in our tree now and should appear in rawhide soon. I've copied it to my account so that you can access it right away for testing purposes: ftp://people.redhat.com/mharris/testing