Re: d-i git repo: sample conversion

[Frans Pop <elendil@planet.nl>]

On Friday 25 September 2009, Christian Perrier wrote:
> Quoting Frans Pop (elendil@planet.nl):
> > - partman components are very tightly coupled
> >   Very frequently changes, such as adding ext4 support, requires
> > making related changes to multiple components. Being able to do so in
> > a single branch in a single repository is of huge practical benefit.
>
> Isn't there room for a compromise here: make partman a single component?

I don't think splitting the repository is an objective in itself, so 
keeping any components together should in principle be possible.

I think the main reason for splitting the repository into individual 
components is tagging releases. Normally in git releases get tagged using 
only the version number of the component, so having multiple components in 
a single repository means you'd get very mixed up and conflicting tags.

OTOH, I don't see why we could not tag releases using <package>/<version>, 
basically the same we do now in SVN. This could even be supported fairly 
simply in debcommit by adding a dotfile in the root dir of the git 
repository with a setting for that [1].

As I've indicated in my previous mail, I would not mind _some_ components 
getting split out of the D-I repository (e.g. win32-loader, mklibs, 
cdebconf [2], netboot-assistant).
I can also see all kernel-wedge and kernel udebs split out, especially as 
they don't have

But I still feel it would be a mistake to split out any components with 
installer-specific functionality, or to split out the 'installer' dir,
'scripts'.

With regard to the PO master files, there are a few arguments for having 
that in a separate repository (note: not to leave it behind in the current 
SVN repository, but to split it out officially):
- it would remain possible for translators to check it out separately
- the commit history would get slightly less obscured by l10n sync commits
  (although you'd still keep the sync commits into individual components)
Not sure if those outweigh 

*If* master PO files would get split out officially, I could also see 
having all partman components together in a separate repository as an 
option, maybe together with bootloaders and os-prober. Although I think 
I'd prefer to just keep them with the rest.

As a compromise I could live with the manual being split out, although I 
think it would get even less commits from others than currently.

[1] It should not be in a user config file as the setting will never be 
valid for *all* projects a DD works on.
[2] Note that this IMO implies cdebconf also gets dropped from the master
PO files and thus gets translation handling like any regular Debian 
package.