Margarita Manterola <margamanter...@gmail.com> writes: > Recently [1], dpatch's maintainer uploaded a new version indicating > that dpatch is now deprecated. Following that, he filed a bug [2] so > that lintian might warn that dpatch's makefile has been deprecated > since 2003, and that dpatch itself is now deprecated. However, he > also stated that he plans to keep dpatch for wheezy.
Just for the record, to reiterate what I have said previously[1], dpatch will be kept around until it can be removed safely: when all reverse build-depends have been migrated to something else. [1]: http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2011/08/msg00380.html That certainly won't happen before wheezy, and is unlikely to happen for wheezy+1, too. My plan still is to phase out dpatch by wheezy+2, but until then, it's a legacy that should be migrated away from, and must not be used for new packages. > [1]: http://packages.qa.debian.org/d/dpatch/news/20111024T000209Z.html > [2]: bugs.debian.org/646420 > > A week ago [3], a new lintian version was uploaded that gives an error > if a package build-depends on dpatch, because it's 'obsolete'. While I originally filed a request to get the dpatch makefile into the obsolete makefiles list, later discussion on IRC (I think on #debian-qa) led to upping that request, and making it an "error" to build-depend on dpatch. The reason for this is two-fold: I'd rather not want any new packages to use dpatch, and a lintian error is scary enough to discourage people. Second, it's an error that can be safely ignored or overridden for the time being. > I find this a bit shocking, since an error with lintian tends to be > quite a big deal, and there are currently more than a thousand > packages that build-depend on dpatch. It's been only a month since the > upload stating that it's deprecated, and it's still going to be there > for wheezy... Wouldn't it be better to make it a warning now, and an > error after wheezy is released? It wouldn't make much of a difference in the long run. Making it a warning would've needed more work on lintian's side, and I do not believe it would've been worth the effort. > I'm CCing debian-devel mainly so that other maintainers of 1087 > packages build-depending on dpatch find out about this deprecation. > Finding out about it through a lintian error was quite surprising to > me. It was briefly announced in august[1] already, that dpatch will, eventually, be removed. I'm not letting anyone in the gutter, though, and early next year, I will start slowly submitting wishlist bugs with patches against packages that build-depend on dpatch. So, there's nothing to worry about: if your package uses dpatch, and you want it lintian clean, either migrate away, or ignore the error and wait for my patch. ;) If you considered using dpatch for a new package... well. I'm sorry. Don't do that. As for communication - yes, perhaps I should've made the deprecation more clear. I believed that a mail to debian-devel@, months in advance, would do the job fine. -- |8] -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-devel-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/87vcq5e6iy....@luthien.mhp
