[gentoo-dev] Update on Gentoo Policy; description of package.mask vs ~arch

[Sven Vermeulen]

Hi all,

With thanks to Alastair Tse I've updated the Gentoo Policy with a more
verbose explanation on the use of ~arch versus package.mask.

The change will be online with the next webserver sync and is made at 
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/policy.xml#doc_chap4_sect3

The sentence

	This is not the equivalent of "testing" or "unstable" in other
	distributions.

has been replaced with

	There is a difference between using package.mask and ~arch for
	ebuilds. The use of ~arch denotes an ebuild requires testing. The
	use of package.mask denotes that the application or library itself
	is deemed unstable. For example, if gimp-1.2.0 is the stable release
	from Gimp developers, and a new bug fix release is available as
	1.2.1, then a developer should mark the ebuild as ~arch for testing
	in portage because the release is deemed to be stable. In another
	example, if Gimp decides to release an unstable/development series
	marked as 1.3.0, then these ebuilds should be put in package.mask
	because the software itself is of development quality and is
	not recommended by the developers for distribution.

I know it's not my habit of telling gentoo-dev when documentation is updated,
but for updates on the policy I will try to do make a habit out of it.

Wkr,
	Sven Vermeulen

-- 
   /  /    
  /  /     Sven Vermeulen          Gentoo Documentation & PR
 /  /      swift@g.o       
/  /                     Goodnight Dana, may you find peace where you are now.