On 22/11/2007, Tim Bray <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On Nov 22, 2007, at 8:53 PM, Shawn Walker wrote:
>
> > As a user, I would expect to see the SUNW, FSW, and SFE before package
> > names.
>
> I think it's ugly and obtrusive and I haven't seen yet how it helps
> me as a user.  Other package-management systems seem to get by by
> calling things by simple unprefixed names.  It's perfectly possible
> that I'm missing some obvious benefit, though; what is it?

I expect to seem them because that is the standard Sun has set forth
for package naming.

Whether you think they "obtrusive, ugly, or whatever" is a subjective,
personal opinion.

The perceived benefit they currently provide is:

* Ensuring a unique name for packages (in theory)

* Identifying the source of the packages (by indicating which company
they are from)

* Grouping packages together by origin

This was discussed many times before during the original package
discussions. Since IPS provides for a rich set of meta data, a
"non-abbreviated, un-mangled name" can be provided in the metadata and
used in the packaging system instead of the actual "package
installation name" for the purposes of searching and browsing.

As a result, I think that any hackery to try to omit these prefixes is
a waste of time.

The metadata that IPS provides should be taken advantage of here for
those users that prefer a different "way of doing things."

-- 
Shawn Walker, Software and Systems Analyst
http://binarycrusader.blogspot.com/

"We don't have enough parallel universes to allow all uses of all
junction types--in the absence of quantum computing the combinatorics
are not in our favor..." --Larry Wall
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