No native packages?
Dmitrijs Ledkovs wrote on his blog[0]:
Generally if software is useful in Debian Project it can be useful for
other debian-like and unlike projects. In particular native packages do
not offer the same patching flexibility as 3.0 (quilt), thus forcing
downstream distributions to inline modify packages without DEP-3
headers. This hurts us, when trying to merge useful stuff from
derivatives back into Debian, as changes are not split into individual
patches.
I would tend to agree that we have too many native packages, though I
doubt you'll find (m)any supporters of the idea of banning them
completely.
It's not only about derivatives, but also in-Debian forking, i.e. NMUs.
NMUing native packages is quite awkward.
I am guilty myself of maintaining a native package (and another one is
waiting in NEW). However, I will be happy to switch to a non-native
format once I figure out a releasing work-flow that is convenient for
me.
[0] http://planet.debian.org/#http://blog.surgut.co.uk/2013/01/thoughts-on-debian-package-policies.html
--
Jakub Wilk
Reply to: