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<title>GLEP 40 -- Standardizing "arch" keywording across all archs.</title>
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<tbody valign="top">
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">GLEP:</th><td class="field-body">40</td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Title:</th><td class="field-body">Standardizing "arch" keywording across all archs.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Version:</th><td class="field-body">1.2</td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Last-Modified:</th><td class="field-body"><a class="reference" href="http://www.gentoo.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/xml/htdocs/proj/en/glep/glep-0040.txt?cvsroot=gentoo">2005/09/15 21:02:11</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Author:</th><td class="field-body">Grant Goodyear <g2boojum at gentoo.org></td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Status:</th><td class="field-body">Approved</td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Type:</th><td class="field-body">Standards Track</td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Content-Type:</th><td class="field-body"><a class="reference" href="http://www.python.org/peps/glep-0012.html">text/x-rst</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Created:</th><td class="field-body">3-Sep-2005</td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Post-History:</th><td class="field-body">6-Sep-2005 15-Sep-2005</td>
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</tr>
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</tbody>
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</table>
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<hr />
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<div class="contents topic" id="contents">
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<p class="topic-title first"><a name="contents">Contents</a></p>
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<ul class="simple">
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<li><a class="reference" href="#status" id="id10" name="id10">Status</a></li>
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<li><a class="reference" href="#credits" id="id11" name="id11">Credits</a></li>
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<li><a class="reference" href="#abstract" id="id12" name="id12">Abstract</a></li>
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<li><a class="reference" href="#motivation" id="id13" name="id13">Motivation</a></li>
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<li><a class="reference" href="#specification" id="id14" name="id14">Specification</a><ul>
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<li><a class="reference" href="#stabling-guidelines-for-all-archs" id="id15" name="id15">Stabling guidelines for all archs</a></li>
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<li><a class="reference" href="#x86-arch-team" id="id16" name="id16">x86 arch team</a></li>
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</ul>
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</li>
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<li><a class="reference" href="#rationale" id="id17" name="id17">Rationale</a></li>
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<li><a class="reference" href="#implementation" id="id18" name="id18">Implementation</a></li>
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<li><a class="reference" href="#alternative-ideas" id="id19" name="id19">Alternative Ideas</a></li>
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<li><a class="reference" href="#backwards-compatibility" id="id20" name="id20">Backwards Compatibility</a></li>
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<li><a class="reference" href="#id1" id="id21" name="id21">References</a></li>
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<li><a class="reference" href="#copyright" id="id22" name="id22">Copyright</a></li>
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</ul>
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</div>
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<div class="section" id="status">
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id10" name="status">Status</a></h1>
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<p>Approved by the Gentoo Council on 15 September 2005.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="section" id="credits">
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id11" name="credits">Credits</a></h1>
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<p>This GLEP originated from a rather contentious <a class="reference" href="http://tinyurl.com/bp859">discussion</a> <a class="footnote-reference" href="#id2" id="id3" name="id3">[1]</a> on gentoo-dev
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about combining the x86 and amd64 keywords. This GLEP attempts to get at the
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heart of that discontent. The proposed stable-keyword guidelines have been
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lifted verbatim from <a class="reference" href="http://dev.gentoo.org/~plasmaroo/devmanual">The Doc</a> <a class="footnote-reference" href="#id4" id="id5" name="id5">[2]</a>.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="section" id="abstract">
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id12" name="abstract">Abstract</a></h1>
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<p>It is time for x86 to no longer be an exception to the standard
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keywording guidelines. Thus, an x86 arch team should be responsible
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for moving packages from ~x86 to x86.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="section" id="motivation">
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id13" name="motivation">Motivation</a></h1>
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<p>The original, informal x86 keywording policy, where almost any x86 dev (which
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were the vast majority of devs) who used a package could mark it stable, arose
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from a time when there were relatively few Gentoo devs. Adding packages to
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the tree was the principal concern, as opposed to maintaining existing
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packages. QA considerations have since modified that policy slightly, and now
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it is the package maintainers who should mark an x86 package stable. Of
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course, that policy presumes that package maintainers are generally x86 devs,
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which is slowly becoming less and less true.</p>
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<p>This policy for x86 is quite different from how every other arch marks
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packages stable. For the non-x86 archs, each arch has a specific "arch team"
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which is responsible for moving packages from <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">~arch</span></tt> to <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">arch</span></tt>, although
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vapier notes that "arch teams generally defer to maintainers (and rightly so)
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as to <em>when</em> newer versions should go stable." This approach has worked quite
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well for the non-x86 archs, and this GLEP asserts that the same approach would
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benefit x86 as well.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="section" id="specification">
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id14" name="specification">Specification</a></h1>
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<div class="section" id="stabling-guidelines-for-all-archs">
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<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id15" name="stabling-guidelines-for-all-archs">Stabling guidelines for all archs</a></h2>
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<p>For a package to move to stable, the following guidelines must be met:</p>
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<ul class="simple">
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<li>The package has spent a reasonable amount of time in <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">~arch</span></tt> first.
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Thirty days is the usual figure, although this is clearly only a guideline.
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For critical packages, a much longer duration is expected. For small
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packages which have only minor changes between versions, a shorter period
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is sometimes appropriate.</li>
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<li>The package must not have any non-<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">arch</span></tt> dependencies.</li>
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<li>The package must not have any severe outstanding bugs or issues.</li>
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<li>The package must be widely tested.</li>
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<li>If the package is a library, it should be known not to break any package
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which depends upon it.</li>
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<li>The relevant <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">arch</span></tt> team must agree to it.</li>
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</ul>
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</div>
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<div class="section" id="x86-arch-team">
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<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id16" name="x86-arch-team">x86 arch team</a></h2>
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<p>A robust x86 arch team needs to be created. The <a class="reference" href="mailto:x86@gentoo.org">x86@gentoo.org</a> alias already
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exists, and it merely needs to be used. This team, with the aid of potential
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non-dev <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">arch</span> <span class="pre">testers</span></tt>, has the responsibility of stabling all x86 packages.
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Current x86 devs who wish to mark their own packages stable must therefore
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either be members of or make individual arrangements with the x86 arch team.</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="section" id="rationale">
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id17" name="rationale">Rationale</a></h1>
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<p>There will be a considerable one-time cost involved in establishing a robust
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x86 arch team--a good number of bodies (the amd64 atch team has 19 active devs
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and 12 active non-dev arch testers) need to be recruited to be part of the
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new arch team, and convincing devs that it is in their best interests to work
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in a new fashion is likely to be even harder. Certainly the benefit of
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consistency between the various archs is obvious, but is it worth the cost
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involved? Here are the arguments for enduring the pain involved:</p>
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<ul class="simple">
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<li>Over time, x86 is likely to become a minority arch as 64-bit systems
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become the norm. The implicit assumptions that underly the current
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system (that most devs, users, and package maintainers use x86)
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will become increasingly less valid.</li>
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<li>Markedly improved QA for x86. Assuming that the author's own is
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behavior is representative, most x86 devs run <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">~x86</span></tt> systems.
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Thus, the assumption that devs are good <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">x86</span></tt> testers is not really
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valid. One obvious consequence is that packages tend to languish in
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<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">~x86</span></tt> for a very long time, since x86 devs running <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">~x86</span></tt> have little
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cause to notice that a package has not been marked stable. The much larger
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effect, though, is that it is rare for <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">x86</span></tt> packages to be stabled in
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the context of a full <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">x86</span></tt> tree, so the big picture of a stable
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<em>system</em>, not just a stable package, is lost. This approach of stabling
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in the context of a full stable <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">arch</span></tt> tree, it has been <a class="reference" href="http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/30369">argued</a> <a class="footnote-reference" href="#id6" id="id7" name="id7">[3]</a>, is
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the fundamental reason why the non-x86 archs have notably better QA
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than does the x86 arch.</li>
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</ul>
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</div>
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<div class="section" id="implementation">
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id18" name="implementation">Implementation</a></h1>
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<p>Creation of a robust x86 team is already underway. The more vital step
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is the official change in policy, along with a sustained effort to get
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existing x86 devs to go along with it.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="section" id="alternative-ideas">
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id19" name="alternative-ideas">Alternative Ideas</a></h1>
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<p><a class="reference" href="http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/31060">Stuart</a> <a class="footnote-reference" href="#id8" id="id9" name="id9">[4]</a> has suggested the creation of a new arch keyword: "[-]maint", which
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would exist in tandem with the normal arch keywords, thereby making the
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package maintainer's intention explicit. Ciaranm has responded that by
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definition a package in <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">~arch</span></tt> is a candidate for <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">arch</span></tt>, so a package's
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mere presence in the tree (without being in <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">package.mask</span></tt>) should indicate
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the package maintainer's intention. There was a fair bit of discussion about
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whether the idea should be a "maint" keyword, or named something else, or an
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entirely different variable, etcetera, but the basic gist didn't change much.</p>
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<p>Jstubbs notes that it could be a very good idea if all non-arch devs worked in
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overlays, but that new portage (gensync) support would be needed to make it
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truly viable. Stuart pointed out that php5 support was handled just that way.
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One author's view is that this approach would make the "package in <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">~arch</span></tt>
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means that it's a de-facto candidate for <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">arch</span></tt>" interpretation even more
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valid.</p>
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<p>Ciaranm and weeve have noted that it is occasionally necessary for arch teams
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to override a package maintainer when it comes to stabling a package. Stuart
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has asserted that in those cases the arch team should be willing to take on
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the support burden for that package.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="section" id="backwards-compatibility">
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id20" name="backwards-compatibility">Backwards Compatibility</a></h1>
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<p>Not really an issue here.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="section" id="id1">
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id21" name="id1">References</a></h1>
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<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="id2" rules="none">
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<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup>
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<tbody valign="top">
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<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id3" name="id2">[1]</a></td><td><a class="reference" href="http://tinyurl.com/bp859">http://tinyurl.com/bp859</a></td></tr>
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</tbody>
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</table>
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<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="id4" rules="none">
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<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup>
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<tbody valign="top">
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<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id5" name="id4">[2]</a></td><td><a class="reference" href="http://dev.gentoo.org/~plasmaroo/devmanual">http://dev.gentoo.org/~plasmaroo/devmanual</a></td></tr>
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</tbody>
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</table>
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<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="id6" rules="none">
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<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup>
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<tbody valign="top">
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<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id7" name="id6">[3]</a></td><td><a class="reference" href="http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/30369">http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/30369</a></td></tr>
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</tbody>
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</table>
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<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="id8" rules="none">
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<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup>
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<tbody valign="top">
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<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id9" name="id8">[4]</a></td><td><a class="reference" href="http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/31060">http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/31060</a></td></tr>
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</tbody>
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</table>
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</div>
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<div class="section" id="copyright">
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id22" name="copyright">Copyright</a></h1>
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<p>This document has been placed in the public domain.</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="footer">
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<hr class="footer" />
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