Re: [PATCH] xscreenshot and imagefile

[Pjotr Prins]

How about creating a policy that people can refer to? 

One of the great things about Guix is that is is accessible and
hackable, unlike most other packaging systems. Guix encourages
contributions and I think it is great that someone comes out of
nowhere and submits a package in the Guix way. If there is nothing
wrong with the package expression we can take the submission
seriously.

I don't think we can accept/reject packages on use or usefulness.  I,
for one, will submit bioinformatics packages which may be meaningless
to 99.9999% of (eventual) Guix users. Are you saying it does not have
a right to go in because core maintainers do not see the benefit?

I think we should focus on compliance, i.e., the package expression
itself and the license, and maybe audit suspect software for not being
a spam/worm/virus. Otherwise I think we should be neutral in what
other people consider important. It is a bit of evolution
too. Unmaintained, defunct or nasty software gets removed eventually.

So, what would be a good policy for accepting/rejecting software
packages?

I favour accepting packages by default, provided the license is
acceptable, and remove them again if too many people complain *after*
using a package or *after* auditing the software itself for
maliciousness. We need to accept by default since we don't have the
time to go through all software source code *every* time.

I don't favour a policy of core maintainers deciding on what package
should go in, or not, in ad hoc fashion. I also don't favour a policy
of rigorous mentoring and acceptance, such as used by the Debian
project.

So, what is great about Guix? And what would be a suitable policy?

Pj.

On Wed, Jul 29, 2015 at 10:58:18PM -0400, Mark H Weaver wrote:
> Mark H Weaver <address@hidden> writes:
> 
> > Orchidaceae Phalaenopsis <address@hidden> writes:
> >> * xscreenshot which takes a screenshot and saves it as .if format
> >> * imagefile which contains a few programs to convert .if to gif, png
> >
> > Honestly, I'm doubtful whether our users will have any interest in these
> > programs.
> 
> I received a private email suggesting that my response here was
> unfriendly.  I'm sorry that it came off that way, because that was not
> my intent.  I'm just trying to express my opinion honestly.
> 
> I've since looked closer at xscreenshot.  Its final commit was the day
> after its initial commit, which was almost exactly one year ago.  In
> that time, the only references I can find to it in a web search are:
> 
> (1) a few messages on the suckless email list within a day or so after
>     it was written
> (2) the current discussion on guix-devel, a year later
> 
> and that's it.  So, what we have here is a program with a two day commit
> history that produces a novel format that apparently nobody uses, and
> I've been unable to find any discussion about it in the year since then.
> 
> Do other people think that such programs belong in Guix?
> Am I being an ungrateful ass?
> 
>       Mark
> 

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