Hi guys, sorry about not being able to reply with a signed mail (etc), but I can't get the hang of Google Groups :)
I'm a Debian Developer, a member of the debian-js team, but don't work on too much Javascript stuff in Debian. I'd like to make one thing very (very) clear -- the tech-ctty rarely rules. On anything. The tech-ctty is here to make a decision *iff* the community of developers, maintainers and interested folks are deadlocked. This argument has been going on for 2 years, and frankly, any decision is welcome. This is not some top-down edict. This has been putting the debian-javascript folks in a really bad place for a really long time. So, here's a rundown of exactly what's gone on here. node (old 1990's software) uses /sbin/node (superuser binary, root only) for some of it's tools. Node.js uses /usr/bin/node (as it should) to run. The first solution that was used (which I was fine with) is that node.js declared a conflicts with node (ham radio), so that you couldn't install both at the same time. Debian policy §7.4 may be read in a way that suggest this is not correct, and as a result, the discussion was taken to debian-devel a *number* of times. The finial solution, as you can see is to give the name "node" to neither package, and allow the packages to conflict with eachother. One can restore node to sanity by installing nodejs-legacy on any Debian system (with packages uploaded after this decision). Let's be clear - there's one rational behind this -- the goal of the Debian archive is to provide a *safe* way to install software. Code undergoes a review when it's being introduced, and also on subsequent uploads, as well as painful attention to detail with ensuring that you may not let your install become unusable from installing software from the Debian archive. I'd be happy to answer questions in the interest of everyone being friendly and mutual understanding. Cheers, Paul On Thursday, July 12, 2012 8:53:30 PM UTC-4, Rick Waldron wrote: > > Paul Tagliamonte, a Debian committer, co-works at the Bocoup loft (and > works with me on Johnny-Five), I will hit him up tomorrow and see what he > thinks about this. > > -Rick > > On Thursday, July 12, 2012 at 8:37 PM, Marak Squires wrote: > > I'm new to this sort of edict. > > After reading http://bugs.debian.org/614907, is saying "fuck you" > an appropriate response? Serious question. > > My favorite part, is when the debian developers start accusing each other > of clandestinely working with the node core team to "run crying to the > techinical commmitte". > > Either way, I'm not the maintainer of the node's Debian package. nor do I > use Debian. The only experience I've had around this issue is the 100 or so > support cases I've had to deal with of people installing Node from a linux > package manager, only to have it be out of date, > then experiencing conflicting installation issues for users who try to > build latest from source. > > > > > On Thu, Jul 12, 2012 at 2:41 PM, Carl Fürstenberg <[email protected]>wrote: > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Don Armstrong <[email protected]> > Date: Thu, Jul 12, 2012 at 8:59 PM > Subject: [CTTE #614907] Resolution of node/nodejs conflict > To: [email protected] > > > > === Resolution === > The Technical Committee reaffirms the importance of preventing namespace > collisions for programs in the distribution, while recognizing that > compatibility with upstreams and with previous Debian releases is also > important and that sometimes an imperfect balance must be struck between > these three goals. > > The Committee therefore resolves that: > > 1. The nodejs package shall be changed to provide /usr/bin/nodejs, not > /usr/bin/node. The package shall declare a Breaks: relationship with > any > packages in Debian that reference /usr/bin/node. > 2. The nodejs source package shall also provide a nodejs-legacy binary > package at Priority: extra that contains /usr/bin/node as a symlink to > /usr/bin/nodejs. No package in the archive may depend on or recommend > the nodejs-legacy package, which is provided solely for upstream > compatibility. This package shall also declare a Conflicts: > relationship > with the node package. > 3. The node source package shall rename its binary to /usr/sbin/ax25-node, > and its binary package to ax25-node. > 4. The node source package shall continue to build a transitional 'node' > binary package for compatibility with deployed Debian installations, > which provides /usr/sbin/node as a symlink to /usr/sbin/ax25-node. This > package shall declare a reciprocal Conflicts: relationship with the > nodejs-legacy package. Other packages may reference the 'node' package > as a dependency or recommendation, but are encouraged to transition to > 'ax25-node'. > 5. The maintainers of these packages are required to implement the above > changes immediately in unstable. Failing that, the Technical Committee > reserves the right to NMU to implement these changes. > 6. Once the above changes are implemented, the packages shall be considered > suitable for release with respect to the Debian policy on conflicting > packages. > > === End Resolution === > > Please see http://bugs.debian.org/614907 for the background and > discussion. > > > Don Armstrong > > -- > I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended > up where I needed to be. > -- Douglas Adams _The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul_ > > http://www.donarmstrong.com http://rzlab.ucr.edu > > > -- > Carl Fürstenberg > > -- > Job Board: http://jobs.nodejs.org/ > Posting guidelines: > https://github.com/joyent/node/wiki/Mailing-List-Posting-Guidelines > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "nodejs" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/nodejs?hl=en?hl=en > > > -- > Job Board: http://jobs.nodejs.org/ > Posting guidelines: > https://github.com/joyent/node/wiki/Mailing-List-Posting-Guidelines > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "nodejs" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/nodejs?hl=en?hl=en > > > -- Job Board: http://jobs.nodejs.org/ Posting guidelines: https://github.com/joyent/node/wiki/Mailing-List-Posting-Guidelines You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "nodejs" group. 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