Re: [gentoo-dev] RFC GLEP 1005: Package Tags

[yac]

On Tue, 25 Mar 2014 18:31:45 +0100
Jeroen Roovers <jer@g.o> wrote:

> On Tue, 25 Mar 2014 08:03:08 +0100
> Jan Matejka <yac@g.o> wrote:
>
> > > No, categories are essentially directories.
> >
> > fixed: categories are essentially also directories.
>
> Also? No, categories are *essentially* directories: they keep files
> apart that should not go together. In precisely that way, their names
> happen to aid in building unique atoms, which you need to be able to
> tell a package manager (or development tool) which precise bunch of
> files you want to read/address/target/modify/etc.
>
> They are *also* other things, like identifiers for actual categories
> of packages (hence the name)

These are all accidental properties of our categories application. I
don't see how they are relevant.

What I was describing is the difference between fundamental properties
of categories and tags.

> which may or may not suit someone's
> needs in finding packages based on keywords.

That's where tags comes in.

> Stating in a GLEP that they're a "giant mistake" means you'll have to
> polish the document till you have rephrased that into something true

agreed.

> and acceptable, or until you have purged every mention and reference
> of the "giant mistake" because it does not serve the purpose of the
> GLEP at all.
>
> Categories are *essential* to the way the repositories now work, and
> they're not going away, especially not by way of this GLEP. See below.
>
> > > I was asking about tags, not about categories.
> >
> > The original mails are:
> >
> > > On Sun, 23 Mar 2014 15:46:09 +0100
> > > Jeroen Roovers <jer@g.o> wrote:
> > >
> > > > On Sat, 22 Mar 2014 15:33:27 -0700
> > > > Alec Warner <antarus@g.o> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Package_Tags
> > > >
> > > >    "This GLEP author would love to blight categories out of
> > > > gentoo history as a giant mistake."
> > > >
> > > > Why?
>
> > > Categories are essentially tags, only less powerful as they can
> > > express relationship of 1:N while tags are can express M:N
> >
> > How is this a question about tags and not categories?
>
> The GLEP's statements about categories appear to be a straw man. It
> basically states that:
>
>  * we introduced categories to aid in finding packages
>  * but it turned out that categories suck at helping us find packages
>  * so now we need to add "tags"
>  * but we can keep categories because they have proven useful for
> other stuff

Please explain how is the straw man different from real issue.

---
Jan Matějka        | Developer
https://gentoo.org | Gentoo Linux
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