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Re: Removing Xprint a bad idea



On Thu, Feb 10, 2005 at 08:04:31AM +0100, Fabio Massimo Di Nitto wrote:
> Daniel Stone wrote:
> | On Wed, Feb 09, 2005 at 02:00:12AM -0500, X Strike Force SVN Repository 
> Admin wrote:
> | I think this is a bad idea, because the head of Xprint development is
> | now X.Org, and this creates unnecessary divergence between the XFree86
> | and X.Org packaging, making it harder to merge changes, and even more
> | likely that regressions will slip through, and will serve only to
> | further delay the introduction of X.Org into Debian due to these side
> | effects.
> 
> uh? how so? it is just one bit splitted out of xfree that will be managed
> as external package -> modularization.

My main problem is with the packaging -- I try to keep in sync with
Debian's XFree86 packaging, and each bit of drift makes it that bit
harder.

But also, as I understand it, the head of Xprint development is now
xc/programs/Xserver in X.Org -- i.e, what we ship in the xorg package.
If I'm right, this means either Drew has to perform a partial build of
the monolithic tree, or something like that, and drift will occur
between the xorg and xprint packaging (remember that they share a DIX,
e.g).

But, Drew's a greater authority on Xprint than I, and I don't doubt that
you guys have all thought it through; I was just registering my concerns
as someone affected by it; more or less the same concerns I had back in
December[0].

> | If this change is to further ease packaging of the behemoth-esque
> | monolithic tree, then it is understandable.  But if it is to improve
> | the life of Xprint users, then it does not do so, because they can
> | always still install xprt-xprintorg, and it will actually make their
> | life worse when X.Org moves into Debian, and this introduction, as I
> | have stated earlier, will be delayed, in my opinion.
> |
> | Don't get me wrong, I would love to see the back of Xprint, and to see
> | a fully modular tree with an external Xprint.  But as that's what's
> | not happening, I see no reason why this commit is anything other than
> | counterproductive, especially when xprt-xprintorg is already available,
> | and has been for some time.  I would therefore strongly encourage this
> | commit to be reverted.
> 
> I don't see how this can delay the transition to X.org in Debian.
> The same change of non-shipping xprt will be preserved later on as part
> of the modularization. Also, Drew itself expressed the wish to remove
> Xprt from Xfree due to its buginess and he committed to maintain
> xprint-xorg.

Sure.  My main point was that, because Debian's XFree86 packages and the
only currently available X.Org packages have diverged a bit in this
regard, it will take longer to do all the changes again, make sure you
didn't miss anything, etc, etc.  Catching regressions has become more
difficult.

> I really can't see any bad side effect to this planned and already
> evaluated decision.

Fair enough.

[0]: http://lists.debian.org/debian-x/2004/12/msg00113.html

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