Re: [Gnu-arch-users] names -> tagline method transition

[Tom Lord]

    > From: Harald Meland <address@hidden>

    > [Tom Lord]

    > > A recent trend is more people looking into tracking external projects
    > > that aren't natively handled in arch.   Would this feature help a lot
    > > with that?   I think it might.   Not so much for
    > > names->{explicit,tagline} but for (file-by-file) explicit->embedded.

    > > In other words: start tracking some upstream project.  Use the
    > > `tagline' method but actually assign ids to file by using `tla add'.

    > > Then, should the upstream project become more "arch friendly",
    > > embedded tags can be added to its files without changing their
    > > identity.

    > This assumes that the "track this project in arch" operation you
    > describe above has only been performed by *one* party, so that there
    > is no dissension on what file-ids the upstream maintainer should
    > assign to the project's files.

    > If multiple file -> id mappings already exist "in the wild" (as I
    > suspect might be the case for widely-used projects; e.g. gcc), you'd
    > need some kind of file-id aliasing scheme; 

Or, you could just try to discourage that and, when you can't, use
names-method changesets to gateway.


    > I suspect that this is what Bruce Perens et al have been talking
    > about when they want arch's file-id layer to be driven by some
    > secondary (local?) mapping.

What are you referring to?

    > Of course, if people could be made to use the first (published)
    > "arch-converted" version of the project instead of rolling their own,
    > this might not be a problem.  I, for one, however, don't find that
    > scenario very likely.

But tagging is an incredibly arbitrary, immaterial choice.  Two
"forks" that don't agree to cooperate in most ways can agree to tags
without requiring much of either.

We'll see, I guess.   My hunch is that if 7 different people all try
to tag GNU sed differently, that the larger community will beat them
into submission right quick.

-t