Package: lintian Severity: wishlist * Steve Langasek [Thu, 24 Aug 2006 01:45:26 -0700]:
> On Thu, Aug 24, 2006 at 10:23:46AM +0200, Stefano Zacchiroli wrote: > > On Thu, Aug 24, 2006 at 08:43:22AM +0100, martin f krafft wrote: > > > Also note that much of Debian started out as Perl. I won't compare > > > the two, but it's basically the same. And there is python-minimal > > > and I have heard rumours that it will be in base soon. > > What? What? What? > > Can you expand on this rumor (you or someone else)? I was postponing a > > post on debian-devel asking about having some sort of python in base > > since I developed a tool for managing vim add-ons in python, but I'm > > scared about uploading it with a dependency on python (since it should > > be shipped with vim itself). More generally we have core tools developed > > in python (e.g. reportbug), and it's a pity not having the minimal > > needed python support for them in base. > Frankly, I think the fact that Debian has a python-minimal package at *all* > is deplorable. When this package first snuck into Debian from Ubuntu, it > was stated quite clearly in the following discussion that upstream > considered it completely unacceptable for anyone to ship python in such a > state that users would end up with less than the full python suite installed > on their system. The *only* reason for the split between python and > python-minimal in Ubuntu is because python-minimal is Essential: yes, and > the only reason this split is *acceptable* to upstream is that python itself > is also part of the base system (Priority: important). > Given that there has been no decision to include python-minimal in the set > of essential packages for Debian, and python hasn't been promoted to the > base system for Debian, it's totally premature for this package to even > exist in Debian. The only goal this package serves is to make it convenient > for the maintainer to maintain the package for both Debian and Ubuntu from a > single source; in all other respects, it's bad for Debian. > And the python2.4-minimal package even has reverse-dependencies in unstable > now. <sigh> It sounds to me like this is something lintian could check (it already does with other packages, see e.g. the "depends-on-x-metapackage" tag). Lintian maintainers, would you be willing to add a check to flag as an error any dependency against python*-minimal, based on the above explanation by Steve? -- Adeodato Simó dato at net.com.org.es Debian Developer adeodato at debian.org Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can read. -- Mark Twain -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]