Andrew D Kirch posted on Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:14:56 -0400 as excerpted: > Dmitry Grigoriev wrote: >> http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=282491 >> >> The idea is that package tree physical structure must correspond to >> logical structure. E.g. package kde/games/tactics-and-strategy/knetwalk >> instead of kde-base/knetwalk, and kde/games/all instead of manually >> managed meta-package or set @kde-games (kde/all == @kde, >> kde/games/arcade/all == @kde-games-arcade, ...). >> > I don't see a problem with this per-se other than that the massive > amount of re-organization which would be required, which could otherwise > be spent on fixing bugs, adding enhancements, and other cool stuff. I > think the price is too high in the manpower catagory.
General observation: In the FLOSS community it is often said (correctly) that for something to be done, it normally must scratch an itch that someone with the skills to do it has, an itch bad enough to motivate the dedication of the necessary time and intellectual energy. It's thus that there are all sorts of otherwise impractical little projects going on, some to eventual usability, some to eventual full maturity, some dying on the vine, as it were. It's the incredible broadness of the community, and thus the incredible broadness of selection of all those little projects, that continues to drive FLOSS, generally far more broadly and effectively than it could ever be driven in an unshared or charge-to-share primarily cost/payment driven proprietary system. You see this put to great effect in the firefox extensions setup. There's dozens of browser choices, but really only one with the extensibility of firefox, an extensibility that many users quickly find indispensable, thus making firefox itself indispensable for those users. The same applies to some Gentoo projects. Realistically, how many of those exotic archs we support, if only in -prefix or experimental form, would even exist at all, if they had to be cost and time justified? But they are someone's hobby, Gentoo is a volunteer organization, and those devs have volunteered to make their hobby yet another Gentoo project. Thus we get to the point. I agree that it's not particularly practical to think about how the Gentoo tree might be better organized if we were to do it today. However, if someone with the skills and the drive to make it so can be found, that either has that itch bad enough, or can be /given/ that itch bad enough, to actually /make/ it so, well then, it's likely to happen. Otherwise, no, it's not, as however nice it might be in theory, there's always higher priority more effective ways for those with the skills and the access to make it happen, to spend their time. Thus, the OP's mission, should he choose to accept it, is to either develop the skills and become a Gentoo developer himself, thus giving himself access to do it, or to effectively enough spread that itch to someone who has the skills and the access, thus giving them the motivation necessary as well. Otherwise, I agree, it's simply very unlikely to ever happen, because the solution we have now is "good enough" and the cost of changing it and taking care of all those loose ends to make it work is high enough, that there are always better ways to spend that time and energy. -- Duncan - List replies preferred. No HTML msgs. "Every nonfree program has a lord, a master -- and if you use the program, he is your master." Richard Stallman
