Re: [gentoo-dev] Changelogs

[Alec Warner]

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Jason Stubbs wrote:
> On Wednesday 27 July 2005 11:05, Alec Warner wrote:
>
>>Recent discussion on this ML and on the portage-ml as well as
>>#gentoo-portage regarding pkg_warn() and the basic concept behind it.
>>We talked about adding new functionality, about adding a warning section
>>to the ebuild or to the metadata.  However.  all of these tend to have
>>problems.  The dev won't write the extra function, duplication of data
>>in pkg_{post/pre}inst, mangling of metadata.xml.
>
>
> Quicker closer than me! ;)
>
>
>>Portage current features the -l switch, to show changelogs.  It works
>>pretty well to show changes in packages prior to emerging.  For example,
>>emerge -uDpvl world -> shows what will emerge then shows the changelogs
>>for each package.  For a very large set of packages the output can be
>>overwhelming, however all the changelogs are provided and the user at
>>least has data to parse through.
>
>
> "The dev won't write the extra function"
> Same problem, no?
>
> Not sure what you meant by "duplication of data" or "mangling of metadata.xml"
> but I still don't see why pkg_warn() can't work. Those that are writing stuff
> in pkg_postinst() presently can use pkg_warn() and feel warm and fuzzy knowing
> that more people are making use of the information. Those that don't make use
> of it? No different to not making use of pkg_postinst().
>
> If you could explain what you meant by the other two listed issues?
>

In hindsight, arguing over almost two different things.  We both agree
that upgrade paths for changes that break the system are good, and that
information regarding the upgrade path *SHOULD* be provided in some
manner.  Some developers think that providing detailed instructions in
pkg_postinst() is good, others will direct you to a website ( usually
UPSTREAM's webpage ) which has the instructions; it saves them time.
Which is correct, or are both?

In the latter case all that is really needed is some sort of switch (
NOT a use flag ) that says this package causes problems, look at
UPSTREAMS webpage for migration information.  I am not particularly in
favor of that, but it's simple for a developer to do, and it's simple
for me to check out a potential 4 or 5 packages in a given upgrade to
figure out what I have to do.

In the former case where more specific information is provided to the
user by portage you generally want a more complex system.  You want the

"<warn from="2.6.4:2[baduse]" to="2.7[-baduse]">You enabled baduse?
Removing it will rm -rf /!</warn>" syntax ( from our conversation last
night ) which is decidedly more complex to write and more complex to parse,

Don't get me wrong, I like it, but I doubt it will get used by enough
people to be useful.

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