>>"Ian" == Ian Jackson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Ian> The /usr/src/linux symlink is no longer necessary for anything
Ian> very much, and in any case it seems to me that having the
Ian> most-recently-unpacked thing alway set this link to itself is
Ian> bad.
Umm, I could not think of another scheme that was better ;-),
and I think it works for most people most of the time.
Ian> But really the main problem is that a .deb package is a
Ian> stunningly bad way of distributing source code - it's exactly the
Ian> kind of thing that dpkg (and indeed almost any package management
Ian> scheme for binary packages) will have huge trouble with, because
Ian> people will always be editing it, compiling it, rm -rf'ing it,
Ian> &c.
Well, yes, but .deb packages are how we distribute packaged
products to the debian users (most methods of delivering such
products to the end-user are focussed on .deb format (dftp, dpkg-ftp,
and cdrom distributors)), so if Debian is to provide the sources, it
should be in this form (I dislike to think that there is a special
case made for the kernel sources).
I think that there is a demand for kernel sources, and that
we should satisfy this need, if only for completeness. Also, though
there are not now, but there may be, in the future, packages that
really depend on the kernel sources; and the .deb file defines a
standard place to find kernel sources on a Debian system
Methinks, Ian, you underestimate your creation, dpkg handles
the sources well enough in most of the cases. So far, I have no
complaint about dpkg's handling of the sources, indeed, people savvy
enough to edit kernel sources are usually savvy enough to understand
why dpkg is complaining about extra files while deleting the source
package (indeed, one may edit the sources almost at will, with no ill
effect, only adding files seems to discomfit dpkg).
manoj
--
The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men
of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding. -- Justice Louis
D. Brandeis
Manoj Srivastava Systems Research Programmer, Project Pilgrim,
Phone: (413) 545-3918 A143B Lederle Graduate Research Center,
Fax: (413) 545-1249 University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <URL:http://www.pilgrim.umass.edu/%7Esrivasta/>
