Package: apt Severity: wishlist Hello Debian developers,
I would like to suggest reconsidering how deb822 .sources files are organized on disk. At the moment, .sources files are placed in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ together with legacy .list files. This works technically, but I think it creates avoidable confusion and goes against common Debian configuration patterns. Points in favor of a separate directory: - Mixing old and new formats in one directory: sources.list.d/ now contains both legacy .list files and the newer .sources files. From an administrator’s point of view, this makes it harder to immediately see which entries are using the modern format and which are legacy. - Inconsistent with usual Debian .d conventions: Debian commonly uses a main config file plus a matching .d directory for drop-in configuration (for example foo.conf and foo.conf.d/). Introducing a new format without a separate namespace breaks with this established pattern. - Cleaner separation and clearer semantics: A dedicated directory such as /etc/apt/sources.d/ could contain only .sources files. sources.list and sources.list.d/ could then clearly remain the legacy location. This would make it obvious which configuration is modern and which is legacy. - Minimal technical impact: APT already distinguishes formats by file extension. Supporting an additional directory for .sources files should not significantly increase complexity, while improving clarity for users and administrators. - Better long-term story: If .list files are ever deprecated, having a separate directory already in place would make the transition clearer and easier to explain. It would also simplify documentation, automation, and troubleshooting by keeping formats separated. I could not find a prior discussion proposing a dedicated directory for .sources files. The argument for keeping everything in sources.list.d/ often seems to be “continuity”, but users still have to learn a new format and a new filename extension, so the benefit of that continuity is limited. For context, this suggestion relates to the discussion in Bug#1095107: https://bugs.debian.org/1095107 I would be interested in hearing whether this approach was considered before, and what concrete drawbacks it would have compared to the current layout. Cheers, Florian
