On Mon, May 04, 2009 at 07:35:18AM +0200, Guillem Jover wrote: > * We can set the architecture and default flags (from policy) on the > makefile to be included, and packagers will be able to do the change > and fix any possible problems (progressive opt-in), but once it's > included by all packages, then we can do system-wide default changes > in the same we change toolchains (mass rebuild, bug filing, change > when bug count goes down). The makefile has the advantage that the > distro default can be temporarily changed for the mass build w/o > needing to totally override the build flags.
I'm really surprised to see this approach getting traction. To me, this seems like a significant, unprecedented departure from the kinds of interfaces we've mandated in Policy in the past (i.e., environment variables, executables and command-line options). While one build helper or another may mandate Makefile includes, there's never been anything of the sort in Policy, and I don't think it's good to add such a thing now. I thought it was generally recognized that it's a Bad Idea to implement config files using your interpreter's 'include' functionality, but that's basically what we have here. If there's any intention at all that Policy eventually mandate use of these Makefile includes, then at a minimum I think Policy needs to *very* tightly constrain what dpkg is allowed to put in those files, to avoid future incompatibilities. But unfortunately, if we're going to support site files, we're in no position to enforce such requirements there; so packages are still subject to breakage from admins populating their site file with random settings (or syntax errors?). -- Steve Langasek Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS Debian Developer to set it on, and I can move the world. Ubuntu Developer http://www.debian.org/ slanga...@ubuntu.com vor...@debian.org -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-policy-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
