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

[Donal K. F. <don...@ma...>]

Kevin Kenny wrote:
> 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?" 

It's more than that. It's a dependency of the repository client itself.
You can't use the repository (or at least you can't use it to acquire
binary packages, which are what you need really need a repository for
anyway) without the package as you can't figure out what build of a
package to ask for.

As far as I can see, there are effectively three, no, four choices:
  1: Reject any attempt to put anything like the 'platform' package
     in/with the core.
  2: Wait for a solution that can perfectly identify all platforms that
     ever might possibly exist.
  3: Accept Steve's partial solution on the pragmatic grounds of it being
     good enough for most users at the moment.
  4: Sit on our hands.

Option 1 is a rejection of the principle of supplying a package that can
identify the platform, and I think it would be not the best possibility.
I regard option 4 (refusing to choose) as an abdication of our
responsibility and I promise to mock anyone going for option 2 most
mercilessly!

(On the matter of updates, as long as the package is returning the
correct platform descriptor, it doesn't matter whether it is up to date
or not. But if that's the case, we must be strict about not allowing
changes to the API. Let it do what it does and nothing else.)

Donal.