Bug#1007717: Draft resolution for "Native source package format with non-native version"

[Helmut Grohne <helmut@subdivi.de>]

Hallo,

On Tue, May 10, 2022 at 05:29:57PM -0700, Sean Whitton wrote:
> DRAFT
> 
> Using its powers under constitution 6.1.5, the Technical Committee
> issues the following advice:

I've given this some thought and feel uneasy about one item.

>   4. We believe that there are indeed circumstances in which
>      1.0-with-diff is the best choice for a particular source package,
>      including, but not limited to, git-first packaging workflows.

While I can agree with this item on a technical level, I think there is
more to it than that and I am wondering whether it sends the "right"
message.

Sometimes, things we do are technically possible and fill a niche well.
Yet, we decide that it is no longer reasonable to continue supporting
them and remove their support despite the feature being useful to some.
Quite clearly, there is a trade-off involved here. Continuing to support
1.0-with-diff comes with a cost that reduces uniformity inside the
archive. Evidently, this is what motivated Lucas to file the MBF
initially. My experience is that lack of uniformity is a significant
barrier to prospective contributors to Debian.

Exploring different technical approaches does have value as well, but I
think we've had sufficient time to consider the various advantages and
disadvantages of various source packages formats. On a whole, it seems
to me that that the number of packages benefiting from 1.0-with-diff is
relatively small.

What would you think about adding an alternative option 4?

4b. We believe that there are indeed circumstances in which
    1.0-with-diff is the best choice for a particular source package.
    Given that the number of packages for which this is relevant is
    fairly small, we recommend discontinuing use of 1.0-with-diff to
    gain more uniformity.

Helmut