Hi currently our archive has the feature(?) that a source package in component a (like main) can build a binary package in component b (like contrib).[1]
Now, this feature is blocking (or making it way harder) to do some
database re-designs we want to do for the central archive database, so
we looked if there are real users of it. Well, yes, there are (damnit :) ):
In unstable we have
Christian Holm Christensen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
root-system
Debian ALSA Maintainers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
alsa-tools
Debian GNOME Maintainers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
gnome-speech (U)
Debian Qt/KDE Maintainers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
kdeaccessibility
Bdale Garbee <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
gnuradio
Zdenek Kabelac <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
avifile
Mario Lang <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
gnome-speech
Ana Beatriz Guerrero Lopez <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
kdeaccessibility (U)
Mikael Magnusson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
alsa-tools (U)
Jordi Mallach <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
alsa-tools (U)
Elimar Riesebieter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
alsa-tools (U)
Kevin M. Rosenberg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
cl-sql
Victor Seva <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
linux-wlan-ng
Enrico Tassi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
linux-wlan-ng (U)
Sune Vuorela <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
kdeaccessibility (U)
In testing we have avifile gnome-speech alsa-tools linux-wlan-ng cl-sql
kdeaccessibility root-system, in stable avifile linux-uvc alsa-tools
linux-wlan-ng cl-sql kdeaccessibility gnuradio latex-hangul-ucs, and,
just for amusement, oldstable had dvipdfm-cjk bluez-utils
openoffice.org-dictionaries cl-sql synopsis.
Now, the idea would be to deprecate this feature, used by 8 packages in
unstable, dropping complications in the database backend and the pool
layout which we would want to avoid.
Yes, it would require those packages to have a new (additional, maybe
stripped to be smaller) source tarball for the one package in the other
component. Well. 8 of them. A very tiny set compared to the whole
archive, and the question is there if that really means we have to keep
it.
But before we take a final decision I want to hear more input on it. So
here are your 5 seconds, please give input. :)
[1] this would also work with non-free. And by policy the source has to
be in the more-free component.
--
bye, Joerg
[...] when an Idea and a developer get laid, code awakes to the world, then
a Debian package is made and pulled in the unstable distribution[...]
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