Re: arch-specific packages and the new SCC requirements

[Thomas Bushnell BSG <tb@becket.net>]

md@Linux.IT (Marco d'Itri) writes:

> On Mar 16, Thomas Bushnell BSG <tb@becket.net> wrote:
> 
> > The Debian Hurd project has another category that should be excluded
> > because they are kernel-specific.  (The current list on the web page
> > is update, makedev, ld.so, modconf, modutils, netbase, pcmcia-cs,
> > procps, ppp, pppconfig, setserial.  There are surely more.)
> I suppose that Hurd will have its own packages which implement these
> functions, so the number should even out among different architectures.

Well, sort of.  Of that list:

update, makedev, procps, ppp [and hence pppconfig], and setserial are
unneeded, because features therein are provided in different ways, in
already existing packages.  For example, Hurd filesystems sync
themselves, not needing a separate program the way Unix does, so
"update" is unnecessary.  Likewise, the Hurd doesn't use a /proc
filesystem, and so it doesn't need special utilies for it.

modconf and modutils are kernel-specific; Mach doesn't have loadable
kernel modules (though it would be nice if it did), but this doesn't
mean there is some bug.  

On the other hand, the Hurd has some packages that Linux is incapable
of running too.  It might be that *that* would balance out.

Thomas