> Wolfgang Baer wrote: > [...] > > Beside that I recognize the value a Java Developer Guide could have.
> I definitely agree, many thanks Pierre for volunteer :-D OK, I volunteer but I'll start small, improving the wiki content when I find some time... Perhaps my thought has been mis-interpreted. I don't think that we need to write a Developer Guide now, as it will spread our too limited resources on too many goals. But the way I see the other Debian Policy documents is that they can be read from two sides: first as packaging rules for the maintainer, but also from an external Java developper as guidelines to write Debian friendly applications. For instance, let's peek _at random_ paragraph 10.7 on Configuration files from the Debian Policy (http://www.us.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-files.html#s-config-files). From a maintainer point of view, it tells you where to put the configuration files if the upstream developer has not put them in standard places. But it can also be used to educate upstream authors, as development recommendations: "if you don't know how to name your configuration files and where to put them, just follow the policy and put them into /etc/..." Another example, if I ask, as a Java developer, "where should I put language resource .properties files?". If I can find the answer to this question in the Policy, it would help me in my development. Now, as a packager, the Policy should tell me if language resource files must be considered as configuration files or not and where I should put them. But enough on this subject! Let's drop another idea. What's about "a question a week" posted on the list to make clear some fuzzy points of the Policy. When a consensus is reached, we keep the conclusion and the rationale for it and include it in the Draft. Many points have already been discussed and kept in the wiki, but it seems either no decision has been taken to include the conclusions in the Policy, either no consensus has been reached and everybody has decided to wait for a better idea, some day... -- Pierre Métras
