On 11/17/2011 03:18 PM, Peter Eisentraut wrote:
Who's to say that after this, the core extensions won't end up in a new separate package postgresql-extensions (or similar) or might even stay in postgresql-contrib, for compatibility?
I don't know why packagers would make an active decision that will make their lives more difficult, with no benefit to them and a regression against project recommendations for their users. The last thing anyone packaging PostgreSQL wants is more packages to deal with; there are already too many. Each of the current sub-packages has a legitimate technical or distribution standard reason to exist--guidelines like "break out client and server components" or "minimize the package dependencies for the main server". I can't think of any good reason that would inspire the sort of drift you're concerned about.
There's little compatibility argument beyond consistency with the previous packages. The reason why this is suddenly feasible now is that the under the hood change are almost all hidden by CREATE EXTENSION.
And if some wanted to wander this way, they'll end up having to maintain a doc patch to address the fact that they've broken with project recommendations. This text in what I submitted will no longer be true:
"This appendix contains information regarding core extensions that are built and included with a standard installation of PostgreSQL."
One of the reasons I picked the name I did was to contrast with the existing description of contrib:
"porting tools, analysis utilities, and plug-in features that are not part of the core PostgreSQL system, mainly because they address a limited audience or are too experimental to be part of the main source tree."
That says it's perfectly fine to make these optional in another package--they're not "part of the core". That scary wording is practically telling packagers to separate them, so it's easy to keep the experimental stuff away from the production quality components.
-- Greg Smith 2ndQuadrant US g...@2ndquadrant.com Baltimore, MD PostgreSQL Training, Services, and 24x7 Support www.2ndQuadrant.us -- Sent via pgsql-hackers mailing list (pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-hackers
