apt-get source changes for packages maintained in VCS

[Matt Zimmerman]

On Sat, Aug 04, 2007 at 05:46:17PM -0400, Scott Kitterman wrote:
> I recently filed https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+bug/129575 and 
> after some IRC discussion we agreed that his recent apt-get source changes 
> needed some broader discussion.
> 
> As an example, I used apt-get source to download the source for pyspf (a 
> package I help maintain in Debian) and get the following warning:
> 
> WARNING: 'pyspf' is maintained in the 'Svn' version control system at:
> svn://svn.debian.org/python-modules/packages/pyspf/trunk/
> Are you sure you want to continue [yN]?
> 
> In my opinion there are two things wrong here:
> 
> First, pyspf is not maintained in the Debian Python Modules Team svn.  The 
> Debian packaging for it is maintained there.  The actual Python module is 
> maintained on Sourceforge, so as written, it is incorrect.  Similarly, if I 
> am considering an Ubuntu revision for a package, the Debian SVN is not the 
> source for code that I'm patching, the Ubuntu source repository is.
> 
> I can understand the desire to inform developers that there is a VCS (I think 
> that's sensible), but it is at most tangential to many use cases.  
>
> Which brings me to my second issue:
> 
> Stopping and asking the user for confirmation is really overkill in this case.  
> The purpose of apt-get source is to get source from a repository.  The fact 
> that there may be other versions accessible elsewhere may or may not be of 
> interest to the user.

Even though I backed this idea originally, after using it for a while, I'm
inclined to agree with you.  There are plenty of cases where it really ought
to just give me what I ask for, so it probably shouldn't demand
confirmation.  A prominent message pointing to the repository should be
sufficient.

-- 
 - mdz