Re: Working on debian developer's reference and "best packaging practices"
On Thu, May 02, 2002 at 03:20:45PM -0500, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
> >>"Julian" == Julian Gilbey <J.D.Gilbey@qmul.ac.uk> writes:
>
> Julian> On Thu, May 02, 2002 at 02:30:34PM +0200, Wichert Akkerman wrote:
> >>
> >> Refer to a dpkg reference instead and document extra restrictions
>
> Julian> Surely either everything necessary should be in the dpkg reference or
> Julian> everything necessary should be in policy. q
>
> Umm, no. It does not make sense to restrict dpkg authors to a
> static, slow changing mechanism that is policy as the blueprint for
> their software development. The dpkg authors must be free to
> innovate, and document additional features, and evolving behaviour.
Good point.
> On the other hand, all packages must not be left to the whimsy
> of the dpkg developers either; since potentially large numbers of
> packages would be impacted by such changes.
Understood.
> Going to either extreme is suboptimal.
Makes sense.
> What we need to do is specify a minimal set of interfaces that
> all packages are required to provide, and that the dpkg authors must
> maintain compatibility for.
Agreed.
> Changes to this core functionality would require a transition
> plan to effect, but otherwise dpkg authors are free to make changes
> and extentions. Most extentions, when the become popular, would be
> candidates for inclution into the core interface, when the dpkg
> authors feel the interface has stabilized and would be unlikely to
> change.
OK.
But we must then be very careful about how the splitting of
information works and how the two are kept compatible.
Julian
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Julian Gilbey, Dept of Maths, Queen Mary, Univ. of London
website: http://www.maths.qmul.ac.uk/~jdg/
Debian GNU/Linux Developer, see: http://people.debian.org/~jdg/
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