Re: RFC: New package "python" and task-python* packages: Suggestion
Chris Lawrence <quango@watervalley.net> writes:
> On Jan 13, Gregor Hoffleit wrote:
> > ...I still like the idea of a
> > real python package--IMHO it's a little bit more intuitive than task-python,
> > ...
> > Finally, and perhaps most important, a real "python" package would make
> > versioned dependencies possible...
Good point.
> > Please do the task-python* packages anyway!
Yes, I'm doing them (or should be!) while I write this.
> I do think task-python(*) makes sense. But I think a "python" package
> would just encourage people to make gratuitous overarching
> dependencies...
Another good point.
We currently have lots of packages with versioned dependencies on
'python-base', and a few with (unversioned) dependencies on the
'python'.
> It seems to me that we ought to pursue something like "python-core" vs
> "python", like Perl has done: a core "python-core" package with the
> essentials (interpreter, required services as defined by the library
> reference), and a "python" package that is the rest of python-base.
I think that's what 'python-base' should be.
Python-base is probably larger than it need be, but we don't have time
before the potato freeze to figure out which pieces of it are actually
needed by the packages that depend on it, or whether those packages
depend on it appropriately.
I suggest we leave python-base as it is, and make 'python' (for the
moment) an empty package that depends on python-base (but not a
virtual package, so it has a real version number, and so should have a
versioned dependency on python-base).
After potato is behind us, we can start paring down python-base by
moving the unneeded parts from python-base to python.
Is that worth the work, and does it answer your concerns?
The 'task-python-*' packages will (subject to your approval) provide
various collections of things as I outlined too many weeks ago, with
one more ('-bundle') based on what Gregor suggested:
Install: if you want to:
------- ---------------
task-python write scripts and uncomplicated Python applications
task-python-web write CGI scripts and web applications in Python
task-python-bundle have the entire upstream (www.python.org) distribution
task-python-dev write complex Python applications, have available
most of the Debian-packaged Python extensions, and/or
write Python extensions in other programming languages
(I'm not sure I like the name '-bundle' -- if you have a better suggestion
please speak up.)
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