recreating historic packages (was: Introductory mail)

[Stefano Zacchiroli]

[ unrelated: is the list configured to not deliver a message Cc-ed to
a subscriber also via the list? Please avoid Cc-ing me, since the
result is that I receive the message only in my INBOX and (I guess due
to the setting above) without a List-Id header ... ]

On Tue, Sep 30, 2008 at 10:02:34AM +0200, martin f krafft wrote:
> also sprach Stefano Zacchiroli <zack at debian.org> [2008.09.30.0932 +0200]:
> > Hence, I see no need of versioning the patch series. Having just
> > the last series, most likely in the Debian source package, would
> > be enough.
> 
> I always thought the point of tagging commits in the VCS was to be
> able to recreate pristine Debian source packages, no? Why do we
> bother tagging packages debian/1.0-1 if the tag cannot be used to
> actually obtain the tree that was used to build the package?

The point of tagging commits is to be able to go back to a particular
moment in the development history; this is unrelated with the ability
of recreating _pristine_ Debian source package IMO. Without versioning
patch series you can go back to any previously tagged moment in time,
full stop.

Yet you won't be able to recreate the pristine source package, I
agree, but is that even a requirement? The tagging need we have for
debian/x.y.z tags is to be able to go back to, say, the version in
stable of a package and develop on top of it, who cares if you won't
be able to recreate the exactly same package? Also, that package is
available in the Debian archive (or on snapshot.d.o, when we will have
one ...).

In my vision we already have historical records of the Debian packages
via the archive, what we don't have is historical records of the
development of a package. We don't have that due to a limitation
(design choice?) in the Debian archive which is VCS-agnostic, hence we
have to store it elsewhere.

Cheers.

-- 
Stefano Zacchiroli -*- PhD in Computer Science \ PostDoc @ Univ. Paris 7
zack@{upsilon.cc,pps.jussieu.fr,debian.org} -<>- http://upsilon.cc/zack/
I'm still an SGML person,this newfangled /\ All one has to do is hit the
XML stuff is so ... simplistic  -- Manoj \/ right keys at the right time
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