[Mageia-dev] Mirror layout

[Buchan Milne]

On Friday, 10 December 2010 11:22:09 andre999 wrote:
> Using PLF for mirroring constrained packages sounds like a very good
> idea. Their site says that they are open to hosting such packages for
> all distros, as long as there are volonteers to support the packages.

Have you looked at the names of people involved with PLF? Have you seen the 
same names posting on this list?

> And since Mageia is (at least initially) compatible with Mandriva, their
> page "easyurpmi" could be easily modified to set up mirror sources for
> Mageia users.  (Call our version "easymageia" ?)

easyurpmi should not be necessary. Users should not be expected to paste 
random commands from random sites into a root shell.

> Using PLF for contrained packages offers a plus for mirror sites willing
> to host such packages.
> They need only mirror one PLF tree for all distros - be it Mandriva,
> Unity, or Mageia.

Alternatively, the whole dichotomy that necessitated contributors to create a 
separate project should be addressed differently, but keeping the packages 
integrated into the distribution, but avoiding legal issues by making it easy 
for entities hosting the files to avoid infringement.

> Interestingly, in a search for all packages containing "codec" or "mp"
> (for mpeg) in the name, I found only 2 packages in PLF that weren't
> already in Mandriva : one being quotations from the Simpsons, which the
> package said was there for copyright reasons.
> All the other PLF packages I found in the above searches were in
> Mandriva main.

Duh. They are the same package, just built with different options.

> Many if not all of which were in PLF for patent reasons, according to
> the package description.
> Which brings up a difference of PLF packages : the PLF description
> usually ends with a line specifying why they are there.  (At least
> packages destined for Mandriva users.)

Search for plf in e.g. http://svn.mandriva.com/cgi-
bin/viewvc.cgi/packages/cooker/ffmpeg/current/SPECS/ffmpeg.spec?revision=612098&view=markup

> So if a user wants to avoid patent constrained packages, they are
> identified as such in PLF - but not in Mandriva.

Intentionally. I don't think Mandriva would have liked a note saying "If you 
want the patent-encumbered features in this package, visit 
http://plf.zarb.org", which could have been sufficiently complicit for DMCA 
issues.

> > This is only a suggestion (and we may have already moved past this
> > point), but perhaps this will let us be more flexible to the end users
> > (both DeskTop and Server).
> 
> For that point, end users could also use the install routines on the
> distribution media, or the (rpm) package categories, to selectively
> install Desktop and/or server packages.  Both of which could use
> improvement.
> 
> But the suggestion regarding PLF is interesting ...

No, we were looking for a more optimal solution than PLF ...