Re: Node.js and it's future in debian
On Fri, Apr 27, 2012 at 08:26:47PM -0700, Russ Allbery wrote:
>
> > Contrast that with the positive actitude of the NFS developers of CITI
> > at UMichi when heimdal-dev and libgssapi-dev both contained
> > /usr/lib/libgssapi.a [1]. They went to the trouble of renaming libgssapi
> > to libgssglue.
>
> Indeed, and I'm very grateful for that. But realistically that was also a
> lot easier than renaming Node.js's interpreter, and I think the CITI folks
> did actually know that was coming. The conflict had already been pointed
> out in the Kerberos community and had been discussed prior to it coming up
> here. But more significantly that library was essentially used only by
> NFS, so only a few clients had to change and the renaming was fairly
> straightforward.
The Node.js developer KNEW there were other binaries named node, and just
went on as if it did not matter. Check the development history/blog.
>
> Node.js is at this point another matter; it's the topic of books,
> widespread use independent of the upstream developers, and lots of
> articles and Internet documentation with a life of its own. A quick
> Google search comes up with tons of indepedent sites telling people to run
> programs with "node <script-name>". That makes renaming a much more
> difficult prospect.
And the ham radio binary is the subject of sections of how-to's and books
on amateur radio. It also has "a life of it's own" in the ham radio
community.
If a binary's name is simply a matter of a popularity contest in Debian,
at some point every name may be made to change.
--
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> Patrick Ouellette | It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. <
> pat(at)flying-gecko.net | -- Francis of Assisi <
> Amateur Radio: NE4PO | <
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