Thomas Bushnell BSG writes: > Michael Poole <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > > It has been argued in this thread that if ndiswrapper were put in > > main, it would mean that contrib has no point at all. One could > > equally well argue that if ndiswrapper were put in contrib, main would > > have no point at all. > > I'm afraid that's not an answer to my question.
It wasn't intended to be an answer to your question, just a reminder that actions have consequences. > > There are benefits to users for putting software into the "innermost" > > category for which it qualifies; consciously putting a package in > > contrib when it could go into main raises questions of *why* it was > > put in contrib -- and which other packages might get the same > > treatment. If putting it in contrib were simply an accident, then > > that bug could just be fixed with no policy implications. > > You are suggesting that there is some "mistreatment" in putting a > package in the wrong category. As in "might get the same treatment". > > Is the idea that you somehow wound the ego of a package by putting it > in contrib? That surely isn't right, of course. But I'm stuck for > wondering. If a package is wrongly put in "lib" when it belongs in > "libdevel", for example, or vice versa, there is no huge flame war, > nothing bad happens, we just carry on. Such a state could continue > for years without anybody getting upset or much caring. > > I just *assume* that errors in categorization will be made. That > doesn't mean errors are good, of course. But my question is: what > *harm* does this particular error (if it is an error) cause? Under the default configuration the last time I installed Debian, the contrib section is not used; arguing that some future technical change might change that behavior leaves the issue open until that change is actually made. Fixing a main->contrib error is likely to require much greater effort and debate than a libdevel->lib error, since Policy defines the distinction between main and contrib but not the one between libdevel and devel. Personally, the effort to fix the error is why I prefer to decide a grey area sooner rather than later. The suggestion that wrongly putting a package in contrib is the kind of error that one can live with seems like little more than a way to push it into contrib without addressing the question of whether or not it actually belongs there. Michael Poole -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
