[gentoo-dev] Re: [GLEP] scm package version suffix

[Ryan Hill]

� wrote:
>> Specification
>> =============
>>
>> ``scm`` is a special suffix. It can be used on its own, but also in any other
>> valid version spec, just before the place where revision would go. And just like
>> revision it can be used only once in a version spec, e.g.:
>>
>>   *  ``cat/pkg-1.0_alpha0-scm``
>>   *  ``cat/pkg-1.0_alpha-scm``
>>   *  ``cat/pkg-1.0-scm-r3``
>>   *  ``cat/pkg-1-scm``
>>   *  ``cat/pkg-1-scm-r2``
>>   *  ``cat/pkg-scm``
>>
>> These package atoms are sorted in ascending order (see `Version Comparison`_).
>
> What is the point of using version information along the scm suffix?
> From the logical POV, scm is a special decorator saying "this is a
> special tarball that can change in time and we don't know its version
> when parsing ebuild, we'd have to ask the repository". Surely I can
> think of uses for *revision* specification (as in "revision of the
> ebuild"), but why to support full version for scm packages?

for example:
sys-devel/gcc-4.2.3_p20071127-scm-r1 would be GCC 4.2 branch prerelease
with the 20071127 patchset and one ebuild revision.

or more generally, why go through the /extra/ trouble of /not/ allowing
normal version specifiers?

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