[Pkg-javascript-devel] hello, plus node packaging questions.

[Jonas Smedegaard]

On 12-01-31 at 11:46am, Andrew Baxter wrote:
> what are the reasons for wanting separate debian packages for each 
> dependent library of a program like the buddycloud web client? I'm 
> assuming the idea is to reduce code duplication between packages, but 
> I'd rather have a definite answer than assume something. Some of the 
> webclient dependencies are quite small, so if this is the reason, it 
> could make sense to include these in the webclient package at first 
> and work on packaging the bigger libraries. For example, 
> 'normalizecss' is included as a git submodule, and maintained as a 
> separate project, but only includes a single short css file.

Yes, code duplication, which relates to security, convenience and 
efficiency...

You argue from the POV of this single application, buddycloud-client. 
Try step back a little to get a broader perspective: Users of Debian 
benefit in multiple ways from reusable code appearing as such.  Some 
users run DEbian-packaged applications and don't care much how 
dependencies are resolved, but others run locally hacked together 
applications and use Debian-packaged libraries.

By packaging shared code as shared code, we encourage use of shared 
code.  Among our users, and also among developers of Debian: when you 
decide to stuff a piece of shareable code into a consuming package, you 
essentially hide that code as shareable, and it is highly likely that 
the next developer will do the same for the exact same piece of code.

Or put it differently: Did you verify all existing Debian-packaged Node 
code for existing use of those small chunks, before proposing to stuff 
it into buddycloud-client?  Are you certain you are not _introducing_ 
code duplication by doing so? ;-)


> I was also wondering whether the packages you're building for nodejs 
> are built to work with npm? For example this would be useful for 
> someone who needs to install some node modules not yet in debian - npm 
> would notice the ones already included and only install the extra 
> modules which are needed. This is something I can probably answer for 
> myself by looking at existing packages though.

npm is package management for end-users.  dpkg is package management for 
sysadmins.  Ideally npm would detect Node "packages" already installed 
via dpkg (but I don't think it does now) but it does not make sense the 
other way around.

Perhaps npm could benefit from a certain hinting provided by dpkg 
packages Node code.  I am unaware of such need, so someone need to 
discover and document that (if it exist)...



Regards,

 - Jonas

-- 
 * Jonas Smedegaard - idealist & Internet-arkitekt
 * Tlf.: +45 40843136  Website: http://dr.jones.dk/

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