Re: /usr/share/doc: some new proposals

[Chris Waters <xtifr@dsp.net>]

Marcus Brinkmann <Marcus.Brinkmann@ruhr-uni-bochum.de> writes:

> Move to usr/share/doc in individual packages. Do nothing else. No symlinks,
> no messing with dpkg, no scripts.

A number of people have objected to that proposal already!  Several
users have stated that they *hate* the idea.  If we care about our
users at all, we will NOT do this!  (The problem is, of course, that
it's the default at this point.)

Seriously, I think the very first thing we should do is agree to STICK
with /usr/doc until Potato is out the door!

I'll say this again, because I think it bears repeating:  I THINK WE
SHOULD STICK WITH /usr/doc UNTIL POTATO IS OUT THE DOOR.

Having some packages use /usr/doc and some use /usr/share/doc in a
RELEASED version of Debian is something that I and many others find
extremely distasteful.  For unstable, that's one thing.  For a
stable, that's quite another.

> Yeah, it seems all facts are on the table, and no new proposals are coming
> up. 

No new proposals?  I just posted three!  All related, all variants on
a theme, but still, three new ones.  The main thing, however, that they
all have in common is that they all involve STICKING WITH /usr/doc
UNTIL POTATO IS OUT THE DOOR!

Guess what I think would be a good idea?  :-)

I think the FIRST thing we should do is decide to stick with /usr/doc
until Potato is out the door (in case you missed that).  Once we
decide that, we have a number of options we can select, but we won't
have to worry about it *right* away, we'll have some time to discuss
our options, and we won't have an inconsistent stable release.

I want to focus on stuff we can handle now, stuff that won't cause
problems, like /usr/share/man, and /var/games.  I'd rather leave
/usr/doc where it is for the time being, since we don't yet have a
*consensus*.

The only real question remaining in my mind, the only thing holding me
back from posting a formal proposal *this very minute* is that I'm not
sure about mentioning a specific version of the system (i.e. Potato)
in Policy.  I think we *should* have some sort of link between policy
and our actual release cycle, but we don't yet, and I want to make
sure that no one will object to my proposal on *that* ground.
-- 
Chris Waters   xtifr@dsp.net | I have a truly elegant proof of the
      or    xtifr@debian.org | above, but it is too long to fit into
http://www.dsp.net/xtifr     | this .signature file.