Re: Bug#129848: www.debian.org: "more info" URL in package descriptions
>>"Antti-Juhani" == Antti-Juhani Kaijanaho <gaia@iki.fi> writes:
Antti-Juhani> On 20020121T195719-0600, Adam Heath wrote:
>> No, policy is never done first. Ever. No way.
Antti-Juhani> This is not true. Policy has been done first many
Antti-Juhani> times. This wish for documenting only implemented and
Antti-Juhani> used things is quite new, as far as I can tell.
Quite so. It shows we can actually learn from past mistakes.
After the /usr/doc /usr/share/doc transition fiasco, several changes
were made to how policy is handled.
At that time, the constitutionality of the policy group was
questioned, and the issue raised whether making a large number of
packages suddenly buggy with the upload of policy is conducive to
anything but frayed tempers.
The policy group reached a consensus on several things
a) Policy is not a stick to beat developers on the head with (I
think Ian Jackson deserves credit for this phrase, as I can
recall him saying that far before the current policy process came
into being)
b) Policy is not dpkg/apt documentation
c) Policy should be minimalist; it should only dictate a course if
there are several feasible solutions, and one needs to be
selected, or to establish interfaces to allow for cooperation
between packages. In these cases, it is preferred that the
mechanisms be worked out between cooperating packages to start
with, and when the kinks have been worked out, the accepted
practice be documented (being as _minimal_ as possible) in
policy.
This makes for a stabler policy, and, I think, for a policy
that is saner, and wiser, it promotes co-operation between
developers, and does not require a whip cracking bureaucracy to
implement the diktats of the elite few.
manoj
--
Perl is designed to give you several ways to do anything, so consider
picking the most readable one. --Larry Wall in the perl man page
Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@debian.org> <http://www.debian.org/%7Esrivasta/>
1024R/C7261095 print CB D9 F4 12 68 07 E4 05 CC 2D 27 12 1D F5 E8 6E
1024D/BF24424C print 4966 F272 D093 B493 410B 924B 21BA DABB BF24 424C
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