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Duncan wrote: |
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> The point being, however, that all this quarreling about "official" |
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> package managers doesn't /really/ have to happen. [...] |
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> I just don't see why so many are spending |
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> so much time arguing over it, when regardless, people are going to make |
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> their choices, and "official" status won't matter so much when people do |
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> so, because the package spec and what works is going to be the defining |
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> factor, not some "official" blessing, except indirectly as that affects |
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> further package spec updates. |
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I agree that the title "official" is nothing more than a title or label |
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and will most likely be applied to the most common/popular manager. I |
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think the reason for the discussion is that arguably Gentoo has been |
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goal-less or at the very least major-project-less, and developers with |
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vision are nervously looking for the direction to push the project. |
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Personally, I'm very happy with Gentoo as is, it's flexible, I can add |
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the packages I might find when browsing the web and it does everything I |
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need. I don't need a major direction, or a big change, or an upheaval, |
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or pretty much anything else, and I believe many of the less vocal |
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developers feel similarly. |
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However, for those that are looking for a change (and sunrise and seeds |
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both seem recent evidence that a body of developers are looking for a |
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change), then I think the alternative package manager is a nice big area |
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with big uncertainty, given that it's well developed source-based |
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package management is arguably the unique selling point of Gentoo. I |
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think if someone were writing a "new" portage that simply took over from |
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the old one one day, there would be nowhere near as much discussion. |
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Therefore, the issue at the heart of these threads is the possibility of |
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splintering of the project. |
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There are quite clearly two sides. Those that would like to see |
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multiple package managers: their reasoning is that they'd like to offer |
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an alternative, with features and designs that would be difficult to |
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integrate into the existing code, and some decisions that would break |
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with the current design (albeit slightly). The other side doesn't |
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necessarily fear another, better package manager, but fears that |
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allowing multiple package managers will start to cause incompatibilities |
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and will divide both the user group and the developer group. Overlays |
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are a feature capable of this division, and already it's given rise to |
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the "seeds" idea, which again met with the same dissent: that of divided |
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time and resources spent on a number of smaller Gentoos, each with less |
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popularity, less time devoted to each, and the difficulty of |
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re-integration with the main branch. |
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Nobody actively wants to break the main tree, but no one has yet |
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figured out a way of ensuring that users do not encounter disruption if |
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they decide to use a different package manager. The PMS is a step to |
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overcome this by defining a standard, or interface, to ensure compatibility. |
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So how can we smooth the way between the two sides? The best I can |
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come up with is a more complete specification. One that includes both |
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the package format, and the local state required to store data. The |
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Pros for this, are that package managers could become interchangeable, |
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to the point that it would never matter which package manager were in |
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use at the time. The cons for this idea, are that it would slow down |
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the development, changes and feature additions to the various managers, |
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as the changes must first pass through the specification and then |
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finally be implemented. |
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We've already seen (with the introduction of Manifest2) that changes to |
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the tree and distribution mechanism are slow at best (I believe manifest |
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signing is over two years old and still not in place for every |
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package?). Requiring adherence to a specification, and maintaining that |
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specification will be even more difficult and slow, but it would allow |
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both sides to move on, and work together towards the new direction. |
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So now the question is, are we willing to accept the cons for the pros, |
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or do we need to find a different solution. If not, then other package |
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managers should invest their time in ratifying a specification quickly, |
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so that they can get down to coding to the specification. Also, those |
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against a new manager, should get down to agreeing the specification so |
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that managers with the possibility of fracturing are bound within a |
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framework of acceptability. As I see it, that leaves both sides working |
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towards the same direction, and should give impetus to both groups to |
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come to a common point as fast as possible. |
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If not, then probably we should return to the drawing board, but I |
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concur that bickering and worrying about the future without pinpointing |
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the problem and trying to tackle it, is far more futile than working |
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towards a viable solution... |
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Mike 5:) |
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