Bug#606067: Unblocking cl-asdf in debian squeeze
On 6 December 2010 22:08, Desmond O. Chang <dochang@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Faré,
>
> I'm trying to push cl-asdf 2:2.011-1 into squeeze. But here is a
> problem: 2:2.011-1 changes source format to 3.0 (quilt). Since
> squeeze has been frozen, it's not suggested.
>
> Please decide that,
>
> 1. abort.
> 2. make a new version to change back source format for squeeze.
> 3. persuade DD to accept the new source format.
>
> However I hope 2.011 can be in squeeze because you've said it's "sign
> of becoming mature" :)
>
> Just reply debbugs 606067 to join our discussion.
>
> http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=606067
>
> Thanks,
> Des
>
I'm the upstream maintainer, and I also support the debian packaging
in the "release" branch of the upstream git.
I don't understand what is the problem with a 3.0 package format, but
I will do whatever is needed to get the package in. When I last asked
debian hackers for help on IRC, I was specifically asked to move to
the latest package version 3.0, from the 1.0 version that I could
never get to work properly with the latest version of the tools. If I
remember correctly, using 1.0 dpkg-buildpackage and/or lintian was
confused by the fact that the diff was empty without the package being
native - though it's the natural consequence of the packaging being
both done upstream and stable (i.e. usually no extra packaging
activity needed after initial release). I'm reluctant to do extra work
and "downgrade" the format to something that was not passing lintian
last time I tried - as far as I'm concerned, the debian packaging has
been fixed and stable since August.
ASDF 2, released in late May, had major fixes in functionality and
changes in usability to ASDF. With people actually starting to use
ASDF 2 and hitting many use cases that weren't being tested before,
there have been several important bug fixes since 2.004, and 2.011
(November) is much more stable than 2.004 (July). As far as
Debian-included Lisp implementations go, GCL support in 2.004 is
mostly broken (package gclcvs), whereas it is fully functional in
2.011; small but notable stability improvements were made for CLISP,
ECL and SBCL, in use cases that some people care about. I understand
the minor API cleanups, backward compatibility fixes and much improved
performance in filesystem access are not relevant arguments for an
exception to the Debian freeze, but they are nevertheless appreciable
by users.
Even though many of the issues did in fact bother Debian users (of
which I am), the issues tended to be reported directly upstream, and
mostly haven't been reported on the Debian bug-tracking system. I've
pushed several package updates on mentors.debian.net since 2.004, that
addressed the circular dependency issue as well as the issues
mentioned above, but they never were sponsored, and that only makes it
harder now. It's partly my fault for not pushing harder for a sponsor.
Sigh.
I think it would be a disservice to the community to ship the current
not-fully-functional combination of common-lisp-controller and cl-asdf
packages.
It was suggested to me (by pabs on #debian-mentors) that at this
stage, cl-asdf would be more likely to be removed than upgraded to
2.011. That would mean that common-lisp-controller and all common-lisp
source package would likely be removed, too. That might be a much
bigger change than upgrading cl-asdf, in addition to making debian not
quick as useful for CL programmers. Or the current packages could be
left as is - in a rather unstable state, with the circular
dependencies and broken gcl support and bugs. Meh.
[ François-René ÐVB Rideau | Reflection&Cybernethics | http://fare.tunes.org ]
...so this guy walks into a bar.
"The usual, Mr. Descartes?" the barman asked.
"I think not," Rene replied, and promptly disappeared.
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