ian@chiark.greenend.org.uk (Ian Jackson) writes:
> In no particular order ...
>
> 1. Source packages have different kinds of dependencies to binary
> packages.
The stuff is either on your system or not. That is all a dependency
enforces. If you look at it that way, source dependencies are identical
to binary dependencies.
> 2. You can have several versions of the same source package installed
> at once.
For cases where this is important, just use different names for the
source packages:
ie. src-deb-hello1.3_1.3-1_all.deb
src-deb-hello1.4_1.4-1_all.deb
We do this all the time for binary packages with libraries.
> 3. Source packages can be unpacked in various different places.
So can binary packages:
dpkg --instdir=/opt/mystuff mydeb.deb
> 4. A source packages lives in one or two directory trees and can be
> deleted using `rm -rf'.
dpkg --purge src-deb-hello src-orig-hello
> 5. Built source packages _have_ to be removed with `rm -rf' because
> they are full of files that weren't there when they were installed.
I just addressed that. (see below)
> 6. Source packages should not specify the permissions and ownerships
> of the files in them. (Beyond the `x' flag.)
Why not?
> 7. There is no operation on a binary package analogous to that of
> building a source package.
dpkg-repack seems to be pretty analogous to me.
> 8. Source packages have to be unpackable on a much wider range of
> unices (and other systems) than binary packages.
Ok, any system without an ar, tar and gzip port will not be able to
unpack a binary package. Let's see - well I'll have to port those
first before I unpack a .deb on my TI-99/4A computer in the basement.
That shouldn't be impossible.
> 9. Installing a source package to look at it should not involve
> executing parts of it.
Well, don't put postinst and prerm scripts in source .deb's - that
is a policy issue.
> 10. There is no need to keep a record of which source packages are
> installed.
Why not? Especially if you get it for free in the deal.
> 11. Installing a source package should not be a privileged operation.
You can run dpkg-deb --extract as a normal user.
> 12. Source packages do not need to be configured at installation
> time.
Of course not.
> 13. Source packages are intended to be edited.
How about untarring them to a temp directory, editing them there,
and making a patch. That is much cleaner than the present setup.
> 14. It is good to keep source packages as close as possible to that
> provided by the upstream authors.
Right. So why do we have a system where we unpack the upstream
sources into the same directory where our debian-specific sources
are, and mix everything up. ie. our .diff.gz files don't just
modify the .orig.tar.gz file -- it also patches in Debian specific
stuff too. Ugh.
OK - before I even started replying to this, I repackaged hello
using my new proposed method. My next post will announce it and
I want to challenge you to a showdown - my method vs. your method.
(of course, my method is 100% based on stuff you wrote).
Cheers,
- Jim
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