Opinion: Separate control information from .deb
As a release evolves, it changes rapidly. Underlying libraries change -
sometime's even package names change. Conflict's arise, and dependencies
change.
Each time this happens, maintainers upload new versions of the packages. Most
often, this means recompiling the whole package - just for a minor change. It
seems like a waste of time and resources to me. Why not place the control
information in a separate location, where it can easily be modified?
Sure, it is convenient to be able to do dpkg -i file.deb, and have all the
needed information in the one file.. But is it really the most effective use
of time? Will an extra file be much more trouble? If a maintainer can fix a
small packaging bug in two minutes rather than however long it takes to
recompile and upload the package, it will be worth it.
A bit like stylesheets and HTML, imho?
Tell me what you think..
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