[Pkg-rust-maintainers] Bug#796256: Bug#796256: Bug#796256: Bug#796256: Please consider packaging a Rust version that allows #![feature(...)]

[Ximin Luo]

On 02/09/15 19:47, Luca Bruno wrote:
> On Wednesday 02 September 2015 16:53:27 Ximin Luo wrote:
> 
>> 1.4.0~~nightly.20150901+dfsg1-1 built for amd64, all tests passing, uploaded
>> here in experimental:
>>
>> https://people.torproject.org/~infinity0/apt/
>> If people like it, I can upload a version to Debian experimental tomorrow. 
> 
>  
>> I also made a beta version here, but haven't yet had time to build it:
>>
>> http://mentors.debian.net/debian/pool/main/r/rustc/rustc_1.3.0~beta.3.201508
>> 12+dfsg1-1.dsc
> 
> I have to agree with Angus here, I think that having nightlies in the archive 
> is really a bad idea, even if just in experimental.
> Features are gated for a reason (still being discussed, to be soon removed, 
> etc.) and it is counterproductive to easily provide them to the wide audience.
> 

But rust upstream is *already* providing them to a wide audience... I would be more convinced of this argument if they *didn't* release nightlies. Not many projects do this; they made an explicit decision to.

> Moreover, due to soname versioning, this means multiple trips through NEW 
> every release cycle (6 weeks), and I honestly think it's a waste of project's 
> resources.
> 
> However, I fully see the benefits of building beta channel in order to catch 
> regressions/bugs earlier (but that one too doesn't expose unstable features 
> IIRC), and if we have some time we'd better coordinate the efforts for that.
> 

OK, I'll leave this decision to the rest of the team; I don't mind either way. My "switch-channel" script can cope with the beta/nightly builds just as easily, it's just a matter of giving it different parameters. (I will keep updating my personal repo with the nightlies as much as I care to, which may or may not be that often.)

However, I will point out that the beta channel, ironically will change the hash name *more often* than the nightly, because it contains a "prerelease" number, i.e.:

$ echo -n "1.4.0-nightly" | md5sum | head -c8
35017696
$ echo -n "1.3.0-beta.3" | md5sum | head -c8
42429799
$ echo -n "1.3.0-beta.2" | md5sum | head -c8
6eca8e2b

X

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