Re: Non-unified patches and dpkg source format ‘3.0 (quilt)’.
Le Wed, Aug 05, 2009 at 03:22:12PM +0200, Cyril Brulebois a écrit :
> According to a quick look at the diff wikipedia page[1], unified diffs
> appeared in GNU diff 1.15, released in January 1991.
>
> 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diff
>
> Time to move on?
Le Wed, Aug 05, 2009 at 03:22:14PM +0200, Giacomo A. Catenazzi a écrit :
>
> The disadvantages: we need to build a lot of tools to test quality
> of our packages. I think handling different diff format will
> decrement the quality of such tests.
Le Wed, Aug 05, 2009 at 06:56:05PM +0200, Tollef Fog Heen a écrit :
>
> They're easier to review (because you have a bit of context) and to
> adapt to sources where they don't apply 100%.
Le Wed, Aug 05, 2009 at 11:23:11PM +1000, Ben Finney a écrit :
>
> Standard data interchange formats is such an argument: one which you
> even quoted me as putting forth. The de facto standard data format for
> interchange of patch data is unified-diff format.
So to summarise, you are suggesting me to write upstream that:
1) We want to review their patches,
2) We can not do this with context diffs,
3) We do want to actively reject non-unified diffs despite our tools work well with them,
4) The reason why they should adopt a new diff format is because it is new.
May I have some evidence that somebody really wants to review their patch? As I
explained already, it is not a random patch grabbed from their BTS, it is their
standard way to publish official corrections that change a few lines in an
archive of 20 Mo. I do not think there is more reason to review this patch than
any other change that they make when they release a new version.
What is next? Will the Project decide a standard whitespace policy and nitpick
every upstream project that does not respect it?
The only patch review system I know in Debian works well with context diffs
(http://patch-tracking.debian.net/package/emboss/6.1.0-2). Quilt, patch, diffstat,
all work well with context diff. dpkg-dev itself works well with context diffs.
The only reason it fails is that there is a political decision to reject
non-unified diffs.
I have moved the patches from debian/patches to debian/patch, which circumvents
the problem, since there is no will to compromise on either side.
Have a nice day,
--
Charles Plessy
Debian Med packaging team,
http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-med
Tsurumi, Kanagawa, Japan
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