Re: [TCLCORE] TIP #291: Add the 'platform' Package to Tcl

[<ke...@cr...>]

don...@ma... said:
>  Just because the package is written in Tcl doesn't mean that it
> should not be taken as a contribution!

Indeed - otherwise, we'd not have the 8.5 [clock]! ;)


don...@ma... said:
> Right now, we're starting to move into the brave new world of
> supporting a real package repository. This is great! (And about time
> too!) But supporting this requires some small amount of code extra so
> that we can know what platform we're dealing with (in the sense of
> "what package instance do I download and/or use so that it will work
> in the current interpreter") so that we can tie the whole thing
> together.

Hmm, there's a counterargument to that, though.  As Joe points out,
the Core platform package is always likely to be obsolete on a
given installation.  As such, it's likely to be the first thing
downloaded from a package repository.  And if it *is* written in
Tcl, then it oughtn't to need anything extra to run from the
repository.

Nevertheless, it feels strange to have something in the repository
that is a dependency of virtually every package there . The natural
question would arise, "why isn't this in the Core?" 

In short, there are forces pulling 'platform' into the Core,
and forces keeping it out. Perhaps the only real resolution 
of this approach-avoidance conflict would be to get off our arses 
and sort out "bundled packages."  That way, the Core installation could 
come with at least *some* platform package, and those that need to (which 
might indeed be most of us) could load an updated version from the \
repository.

--
73 de ke9tv/2, Kevin KENNY   GE Corporate Research & Development
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