Re: Thwarting Policy via BTS
On 04-Nov-99, 14:34 (CST), Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org> wrote:
> John, while I feel your pain (24 minutes?!), I have to point out that the
> developer's reference is not formal debian policy[1], and no formal debian
> policy document talks about NMU's. This is because policy documents say what
> must be in packages and how they must behave, but it is out of their scope
> to control how developers behave.
>
> I only want to make this point so people don't start getting the impression
> that the developer's reference is policy, or that policy controls what
> people may and may not do. I'm not trying to condone Thomas's action.
Joey, I understand the point you are making, but *I'd* to point out that
policy does not (and *should* not) contain all the rules and guidelines
about how the Debian project works. The policy document is primarily
about the rules and guidelines software packages need to follow so that
they don't screw up other packages, and so that the distribution looks
like a coherent, integrated whole rather than a random mess. The fact
that the NMU guidelines are not part of the policy document does not
make them any less (or any more) valid or binding.
Steve
--
Steve Greenland <vmole@swbell.net>
(Please do not CC me on mail sent to this list; I subscribe to and read
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