Re: [PROPOSED] Change package relations policy to remove references to non-free from main

[Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@debian.org>]

Hi,
>>"Thomas" == Thomas Bushnell, BSG <tb@MIT.EDU> writes:

 Thomas> I like the change to the policy document in question.

        And I do not. Technically speaking, tihs additions is is a
 bogosity, it adds packages, thast serve no purpose other than
 religious, adds yet another layer of indirection, makes it harder for
 a human to follow the chains of dependencies while reading available
 files, and to what end?

 Thomas> A reasonable compromise though would be to allow Suggests of
 Thomas> non-free packages only through a virtual package
 Thomas> intermediary.

        I do not find this reasonable. Or have we added versioned
 provides already? Lacking versioned provides, this proposal
 represents people jumping in, and, for religous reasons, providing
 solution that do not work. Faugh.

 Thomas> Then people can switch to a free alternative easily as soon
 Thomas> as one is available, instead of (continuing!)  to have
 Thomas> important parts of Debian essentially dependent on (say)
 Thomas> netscape.

        Incidentaly, creating a virtual package that has only one
 provider does not help you unless dselect behaviour is changed
 as well. As far as dselect is concerned, you shall be shown
 the non-free package anyway, as the sole provider of the virtual
 package. Yet another reason that this so called compromise does not
 work as expected.

        Change dselect not to show suggests in heirarchies that are
 not available. And this means non-US, as well as non-free. And ask
 the users.

        We should be giving users more choice. Not less.

        manoj
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Manoj Srivastava   <srivasta@debian.org>  <http://www.debian.org/%7Esrivasta/>
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