Re: Debian Social Contract
+++ Neil Williams [2011-06-29 19:12 +0100]:
> On Wed, 29 Jun 2011 01:42:10 +0100
> Wookey <wookey@wookware.org> wrote:
>
> > +++ Neil Williams [2011-06-28 08:17 +0100]:
> > > On Tue, 28 Jun 2011 01:03:22 +0200
> >
> > > Most have relied on
> > > hacks upon hacks upon hacks. dpkg-cross is a classic example
> > > - it stinks and causes immense amounts of aggravation but it is what we
> > > have and until MultiArch delivers results there will be nothing better.
> >
> > dpkg-cross is a perfectly sensible idea,
>
> The idea of putting foreign files in a known location by converting
> natively built packages is the good part of the idea. The hack of doing
> this by renaming the *binary* package thereby creating a package which
> exists nowhere else is a rotten idea. Yes, it is/was the only way of
> doing it (probably) but that does not mean that it is defensible or
> anything other than a means to an end. It is time to move away.
> problems *only* exist
> because the behaviour of dpkg-cross in renaming the package is a truly
> horrible hack with disastrous consequences.
This argument is largely moot, as we have a new, shiny plan, but I
still think your bile is misdirected. Using the package namespace for
the 'architecture' dimension was an effective solution given the
constraints of single-arch apt/dpkg operation. This mapping is not the
reason why apt-cross and other tools have such problems. The name
mapping is simple enough and reliable. The real difficulty is that the
classification of dependencies into same-arch or different-arch could
only be done with heuristics and/or exception lists, so the tools
always had a good dose of bodging to do. That was the problematic bit.
Anyway - it is all due for extermination now, so lets see how fast we
can get there.
> 2: The manpage is too long,
I do not understand a world where manpages can be 'too long'. What is wrong
with a long, and complete, manpage? Often this can be a thing of
beauty. I like a well documented package where the manpage does in
fact contain everything you need to know, and some useful examples.
Manpages can be unclear and badly written, and missing vital info, but
not too long. Multistrap's seems reasonably complete. I see no sign of
it being too long yet.
> You've got enough to do getting MultiArch supporting cross building,
> moving tasks from my free time to your free time doesn't actually solve
> much...
True.
Wookey
--
Principal hats: Linaro, Emdebian, Wookware, Balloonboard, ARM
http://wookware.org/
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