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Re: python-minimal in base?



On Thu, Aug 24, 2006 at 10:23:46AM +0200, Stefano Zacchiroli wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 24, 2006 at 08:43:22AM +0100, martin f krafft wrote:
> > Also note that much of Debian started out as Perl. I won't compare
> > the two, but it's basically the same. And there is python-minimal
> > and I have heard rumours that it will be in base soon.

> What? What? What?

> Can you expand on this rumor (you or someone else)? I was postponing a
> post on debian-devel asking about having some sort of python in base
> since I developed a tool for managing vim add-ons in python, but I'm
> scared about uploading it with a dependency on python (since it should
> be shipped with vim itself). More generally we have core tools developed
> in python (e.g. reportbug), and it's a pity not having the minimal
> needed python support for them in base.

Frankly, I think the fact that Debian has a python-minimal package at *all*
is deplorable.  When this package first snuck into Debian from Ubuntu, it
was stated quite clearly in the following discussion that upstream
considered it completely unacceptable for anyone to ship python in such a
state that users would end up with less than the full python suite installed
on their system.  The *only* reason for the split between python and
python-minimal in Ubuntu is because python-minimal is Essential: yes, and
the only reason this split is *acceptable* to upstream is that python itself
is also part of the base system (Priority: important).

Given that there has been no decision to include python-minimal in the set
of essential packages for Debian, and python hasn't been promoted to the
base system for Debian, it's totally premature for this package to even
exist in Debian.  The only goal this package serves is to make it convenient
for the maintainer to maintain the package for both Debian and Ubuntu from a
single source; in all other respects, it's bad for Debian.

And the python2.4-minimal package even has reverse-dependencies in unstable
now.  <sigh>

-- 
Steve Langasek                   Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS
Debian Developer                   to set it on, and I can move the world.
vorlon@debian.org                                   http://www.debian.org/

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