Re: Time to rewrite dpkg
On Thu, May 20, 1999 at 12:50:19AM +1000, Anthony Towns wrote:
> That seems... the wrong way around.
>
see comments below ;P
> One alternative that's probably worth considering is improving libdpkg, so
> that Apt and friends can make use of dpkg that way, and provide their own
> front ends however they see fit.
This isn't nearly the same scenario as I have in mind.
Polymorphism is such an obvious pillar of structured programming that I
can't understand how anybody could live without it.
> In particular, there are established ways of linking programs written in
> any language against C based libraries. As far as I'm aware doing the same
> to C++ (or other object-oriented languages) is a pain in the neck.
This is simply not true.
I have grown increasingly aware of FUD of this type about C++ and OO
languages. OO is designed to *increase* interoperability, flexibility, and
extensibility -- definately not the other way around.
> And I don't particularly think it's much of a gain to say "You want
> access to dpkg's internals? Just use C++!". C++ is all well and good,
> but it's not *that* good.
No, there are leaps and bounds to be made by this sort of organization.
Basically, any one feature or behavioural pragma need only be implemented in
one component; afterwards it's applicable to all future setups.
This is another misconception about C++ and OO. First off, this type of
design is intuitive and fairly simple to achieve. It'll be more
maintainable, more flexible, and faster. Faster because not every single
program needing to open the database or launch dpkg will need to reread and
reparse the status/available databases a gazillion times each! (plug at apt
not meant personally to anyone ;P)
> > Whether or not the community approves of this,
> > I will pursue it, and let the chips fall where they may.
>
> Good luck, FWIW. I've no doubt you'll need it.
As far as writing it, no. As far as getting something like this accepted,
it's going to take time, no question about it.
--
..Aaron Van Couwenberghe... ..vanco@sonic.net.. ..aaronv@debian.org....
Berlin: http://www.berlin-consortium.org
Debian GNU/Linux: http://www.debian.org
"...Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing..."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Reply to: