Re: [Freeciv-Dev] freeciv/debian in dist?

[John Goerzen <jgoerzen@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, Nov 30, 1998 at 08:40:10AM -0200, Lalo Martins wrote:

> On Nov 30, Nicolas BRUNEL decided to present us with:
> > Hello,
> > 
> > I have debian and i don't use freeciv/debian.
> > Is anyone except Lalo use this directory ?
> 
> Yes, lots of peple. By using a .deb package you get entries in

You're confusing the people that use the .deb with the people that use
freeciv/debian in CVS.  It is quite possible to make a .deb without upstream
support of it; in fact, almost all Debian packages are done this way.  Also
see me recent remarks about why it is a bad idea to have a debian/ directory
in sources which Debian is not responsible for (from a perspective purely
from Debian's point of view) and others' posts regarding the problems of
having it in FreeCiv (from a purely FreeCiv point of view).

> Now with my new Debian stuff in CVS (debian/* and build.debian)
> even folks that fetch from CVS can get .debs. With correct
> version numbers and all. So getting better to you question:

If there is such a problem, you could make something like kernel-package. 
Debian has a mechanism to build .debs from the Linux kernel source, which
doesn't have any such support in it.  People can also do as I have and
simply snag the diff.gz from the latest freeciv package in Debian, uupdate
to the cvs version, and compile that.  No trouble there.

> > I have debian and i don't use freeciv/debian.
> 
> You should try and check the difference. Open debian's menu

But this is still not using that directory.  Any .deb has (or can have)
these features.

Finally, I am concerned about Debian pushing itself on to other projects. 
This is not good for Debian and not good for other projects as it can result
in ruffled feathers everywhere.

> Have use of the Bug Tracking System ( http://www.debian.org/Bugs ).
> Have access to a large support database - mail lists, IRC, etc.

But you see, none of these require debian/ directory upstream.

> Sorry If I'm a bit harsh or advertising, but I have strong
> feelings on that matter. Or I wouldn't be a maintainer.

Please don't use that as support for your arguments.  I maintain 25 Debian
packages, but that doesn't mean that every other Debian developer agrees
with me on everything.

> > Is anyone except Lalo use this directory ?
> 
> Hundreds. Perhaps more than are on this list. Of course most of

I don't think so.  .deb files do not use the directory at all.  Only the
source packages do, and they shouldn't.

> them just get a precompiled packag from a CD-rom, but it's still
> a number.

-- 
John Goerzen   Linux, Unix consulting & programming   jgoerzen@xxxxxxxxxxxx |
Developer, Debian GNU/Linux (Free powerful OS upgrade)       www.debian.org |
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