Re: SEUL: Debian versus RedHat and DPKG versus RPM

["Erik Walthinsen (Omega)" <omega@sequent.com>]

> APS <solaris@ulpgc.es>
> > jfm <jfm2@club-internet.fr>
-----
> > Official Redhat includes THREE non-GPLed, non-RedHat, proprietary
> > packages: the RedBaron and Grail web browsers, the MetroLink X
> > server.  And you can live without them.
> 
> Yes, you can now. But you do not know how those pieces and other 
> pieces will integrate into the OS, in the future.
> 
> > So GPL is not an argument in the RedHat versus Debian.  It could be
> > for the minor distributions.
-----
> > If we take distribution X as the base that means than at least 70 to
> > 80% of SEUL packages will come from X (perhaps with minor tweakings)
> > so unless than we are glutton for punishemnt the natural decision is
> > to use the same packaging system instead of rolling them in an entiely
> > different format.  In fact you could be led to choose its packaging
> > system even in the case the Y format is markedly superior.  And in
> > past months RPM has made steady progress (it got dependencies) so the
> > technological edge of DPKG is now a lot smaller than a year ago.


Note that just because we start with a particular distribution does not
imply a anything, including:

1) we stick with 70-100% package count from that distrib (in the long run)
2) we stick with that package manager
3) we keep up with that distrib at all

#1 will be the case for quite a while, and the exceptions will really only
be user apps.  Note that this is an ill-defined concept.  Just because
we'll be using a package that comes from that distrib doesn't mean we
won't modify it.  It just means that our modifications will be based on
the package from that distrib, not another.

#2 is open until we approach somewhere around 70% to 1.0 release.  Beyond
that point, changes in package manager will be nearly impossible.

#3 is the interesting one.  We may start with RedHat or Debian, then
decide that certain features of another distrib are nice.  However, the
process would be more of a piecemeal migration than a wholesale switch. 
We'd convert this package, that packages, and get 5% closer to the new
distrib.  Convert another package, we're another 2% closer, etc.  Once we
have chosen a distrib, we can do whatever we want to it.

This means, however, that if we start migrating the majority of SEUL from
one distrib to another, we make keeping up with the latest and greatest
much more difficult.  If we divorce ourselves completely from our initial
distrib, we are back to square one as far as maintainence.  If we work
closely from the initial distrib, new releases and new package versions
can be rolled back into our sources with minimal fuss.

TTYAL,
     Omega
     SEUL Project infrastructure/system architecture

        Erik Walthinsen - Programmer, webmaster, 3D artist, etc.   __
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