> I believe most folks want more conformity rather than less, > so are more inclined towards "version goes here" than > "optionally here
I maintain that there is a difference between a Best Practice and a mandate. A mandate should be reserved for where it impacts function and interoperability. Ease of use is served by a Best Practice, which allows for exceptions where they further the goal. Since I won't pretend to anticipate all needs, I prefer to anticipate that there will be good reasons for exceptions. > Clearly it is a primary goal to work with mirroring, however > generically parsing a bunch of the things references on here > [http://www.apache.org/dev/mirrors.html] would be nightmarish. I would expect tools to require that there be a URI that is reliably machine parsable. If we accept the requirement that the repository support symlinks, then we can even mandate a particular form of URI intended for easy machine parsing, but I would not exclude more convenient forms of organization for the non-tool-using user. I think we've the core of such an agreement, although we also need to invite the current mirroring folks from infrastructure to review it once we at least agree. --- Noel
