Dmitrijs Ledkovs wrote on his blog[0]:
Generally if software is useful in Debian Project it can be useful for other debian-like and unlike projects. In particular native packages do not offer the same patching flexibility as 3.0 (quilt), thus forcing downstream distributions to inline modify packages without DEP-3 headers. This hurts us, when trying to merge useful stuff from derivatives back into Debian, as changes are not split into individual patches.
I would tend to agree that we have too many native packages, though I doubt you'll find (m)any supporters of the idea of banning them completely.
It's not only about derivatives, but also in-Debian forking, i.e. NMUs. NMUing native packages is quite awkward.
I am guilty myself of maintaining a native package (and another one is waiting in NEW). However, I will be happy to switch to a non-native format once I figure out a releasing work-flow that is convenient for me.
[0] http://planet.debian.org/#http://blog.surgut.co.uk/2013/01/thoughts-on-debian-package-policies.html -- Jakub Wilk -- 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/20130127181644.ga6...@jwilk.net
