bzr and Ubuntu: what it means for vcs-pkg (was: Re: Bazaar branches for all Ubuntu source packages available)

[James Westby]

On Thu, 2008-11-27 at 09:28 +0000, James Westby wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> If you go visit
> 
>   http://package-import.ubuntu.com/
> 
> you will find bzr branches available for (almost) all Ubuntu source
> packages. These branches are a new service available to all Ubuntu
> developers.

Hi,

Paul suggested that I explain a little bit about how I see this 
affecting vcs-pkg.

In my opinion it doesn't prejudice the aims of vcs-pkg at all. All we 
are doing in essence is representing existing source packages in
bzr. We haven't settled on a set of tools to manage the branches,
or a workflow to interact with upstream etc. In fact, as they don't
share revision history with any upstream branches that's not really
feasible right now.

In fact I think this will benefit vcs-pkg quite a bit. Firstly, with
lots more people using VCS for packaging we will learn more about the
requirements. We will also see some new tools and approaches springing
up. It will also provide us with a testbed where we can experiment with
things on a larger scale.

In a way it has started a clock ticking, in that as this moves forward
we will need good answers to a lot of the questions that vcs-pkg is 
asking, and if vcs-pkg doesn't provide them then other solutions will
spring up. It's not going to be rapid progress though, so there will
be plenty of time to come up with these answers.

Thanks,

James