[Mageia-dev] Python packaging policy

[Pierre-Malo Deniélou]

On 13/12/12 06:53, Joseph Wang wrote:
> Looking over this page:
>
> https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Python_policy
 >
> * I'd like to add a rule (which is followed by current packages) that
> the prefix "py" should
> generally be removed from a package name.  For example pyopencl should be called
> python-opencl.  This is the current convention for packages in mageia.

I think it's too strong. There will necessarily be exceptions, like pypes.

For the package names, I can give you my experience as ocaml packager. 
Our policy is roughly the same as for python:
- executables keep their upstream names (ex. js_of_ocaml, camlp5, ...)
- libraries take the 'ocaml-' prefix followed by the upstream name as 
much as possible (since these upstream names are known). It leads to 
packages like ocaml-ocamlgraph or ocaml-ocamlnet since ocamlgraph and 
ocamlnet are well-known libs in the community. However when the library 
is just a wrapper for a well-known C library, we drop extra ocaml 
prefixes or suffixes (ex: upstream sqlite3-ocaml becomes ocaml-sqlite3).

So overall, no policy should be too strict: the need for uniformity 
should not make it too hard for users!

> * Also for grouping.  I'd like to add a rule that Development/Python
> is intended for packages
> which provide general development libraries for python, and if the
> library fits into an obvious
> other category (i.e. python routines for cosmology calculations) those
> should go into the
> other category.

I don't really agree. The current group policy is the following:
- if it's an application/data -> in the corresponding group.
- if it's a library for development -> in Development/%{the language}.
- if it's a library not meant for anyone to install independently
   -> in System/Libraries.
I'm not sure users would find a benefit to have python for cosmology in 
the Astronomy section and python for Maths in the Maths section and so on.

What I would encourage you to do however is to create a cosmology wiki 
page that describes all the cosmology-features of Mageia.
Best,
-- 
Malo