Proposal: Source file package format

[Svante Signell <svante signell telia com>]

Greetings,

What do you think of the following proposal:

I order to simplify for package authors/maintainers and to reduce
duplication, distribute the source file packages in .tar.gz (or .tar.bz2)
format. This avoids the need to provide both .tar.gz, .src.rpm and
debian source files.

Included in these tarballs add .spec and .dsc files together with
the original .tar.gz package and .diff.gz files. Then everybody
interested can build source/binary files for their own preferred
distribution using the same source files!!

Also the GNU packages could contain .deb and .spec files, as is
already the case (.spec-files) for gnome packages.

Advantages
==========
++ Enables convergence towards Linux Standard Base (LSB)
++ Simplifies a lot for package maintainers, distribution specific
   files, .spec, .dsc etc could be supplied by the different vendors. 
++ Faster feedback to package authors for patches incorporated into
   the main distribution.
++ Reduces the risk for patch divergence. (A lot of
   distribution-spcific patches)
+ Useful for all .rpm-based systems, rpm -t? is already there.
+ Useful for all .deb-based systems, with minor changes in relevant tools.
+ Useful for .tar.gz-based systems, no changes necessary.
+ ...

Drawbacks
=========
- No easy way to see if .spec and .dsc files are included in the
.tar.gz package (except using tar, but that requires a download)
- Distribution profiling more difficult :-(
- Package naming has to be agreed upon!!
- ...

Another issue is to merge the binary file formats .deb and .rpm :-(

This mail is sent to the lists I'm subscribing to. I'm currently
running Rawhide-19991117, Redhat 6.1, Debian 2.1, Suse 6.2 and
Mandrake 6.1 on different computers and disks, and would really
appreciate a common format at least for source packages. Most often I
recompile the sources myself. 

Please feel free to forward this mail to other interested parties not
reached by the list here. I would like to start the dicussion on this
subject. No flame wars please!

svante.signell@telia.com