Me again..AX.25 in Linux has been around for a long time so I can excuse it's overly generic "node" name purely based upon it's age but..
The working title of Node.js was "server" for a few weeks, before anyone was using it.
Wow.. that's horrible! Obviously we don't want stuff like that to happen. Please also consider that all this ISN'T just a *Debian* problem. Its a Linux distro-wide problem. It's groups like this that form and guide aspects of all Linux distributions consistency and considering Debian's wide influence, changes here will surely trickle into other distributions over time.
It's also worth touching on that I personally appreciate the work thatPatrick Ouellette has done on maintaining the HAM packages for Debian. Like always, there are never enough appreciative people in this world but once removed / renamed /etc, I'm SURE a lot of people will come out of the woodwork to bitch about it. A *lot* of people use Debian and Debian-related distributions with Packet radio.
1. Which package should use the name "node" in the long term? What
can we do to ensure that happens eventually?
(My answer is that I hope that neither uses the name "node" in
the long term.)
I personally think that some of it SHOULD be a first come, first served thing. I previously mentioned in the previous email that all of the various scripts that people run could/would break. Probably no big deal to many of us on *this* list but trust me, I know a few Linux packet people who would be seriously lost because of these changes.
Also consider the tons of documentation, notably the AX.25 HOWTO that would be impacted and I highly doubt it would get updated (hasn't been since 2001) to reflect these changes. It's not like things have needed to change all that much - http://tldp.org/HOWTO/AX25-HOWTO/
2. What should be the state in Debian's upcoming "wheezy" release to
provide a smooth upgrade path and not surprise users too much?
Is Node.js a new addition to Debian? Again, I side with first come first served.
I also would hope that wheezy can include a /usr/sbin/node file
that prints a message to help people notice they are still using
it and calls /usr/sbin/axnode, but that is still under discussion.
Likewise, the Node.js needs some migration to ensure scripts
installed by Debian packages and from outside use the new name.
I would hope that wheezy can include a /usr/bin/node synonym for
compatibility until usage of it fades away, but that is still
under discussion.)
If for some reason Debian feels that longstanding packages and their well known binary names can be renamed at any given time (I seriously disagree with that mentality btw), I'd say then ALSO force the change of the "node" in Node.JS name to something more sane. Don't remove one poorly named file for a new poorly named one just because it's new and shiny.
--David