Bug#907727: Empty directory is already present in orig tarball
- To: Russ Allbery <rra@debian.org>
- Cc: 907727@bugs.debian.org
- Subject: Bug#907727: Empty directory is already present in orig tarball
- From: Felix Lechner <felix.lechner@lease-up.com>
- Date: Sat, 14 Dec 2019 11:00:27 -0800
- Message-id: <[🔎] CAFHYt573VXYw+fyQhBNRKiRh0Qp=a7tbJWCV_Ma0ASWg6GO9ag@mail.gmail.com>
- Reply-to: Felix Lechner <felix.lechner@lease-up.com>, 907727@bugs.debian.org
- In-reply-to: <874kzweezg.fsf@hope.eyrie.org>
- References: <153575707119.18193.7968895908904893809.reportbug@wanderer.eyrie.org> <CAFHYt57_3GObEUkatEHmffCuDmax5xGpO_UbUUeODVo6GJqJFg@mail.gmail.com> <87lfw03b44.fsf@hope.eyrie.org> <CAFHYt54fAtGCrSkoTOXT6B7RhOi2UpY=mWzYxTwZyx9FEPxhqg@mail.gmail.com> <87a7cg37gh.fsf@hope.eyrie.org> <CAFHYt57xQFTJLxLH9pMWrBa+fGiqKLTSxE8GB7bF57+APf-nvg@mail.gmail.com> <87eez3jkc5.fsf@hope.eyrie.org> <CAFHYt55kOqLxEM+NTQpfLZ0SWxG+YxYoOuwY3csiY5=QcHk-Vw@mail.gmail.com> <874kzweezg.fsf@hope.eyrie.org> <153575707119.18193.7968895908904893809.reportbug@wanderer.eyrie.org>
Hi Russ,
On Fri, Oct 25, 2019 at 1:40 PM Russ Allbery <rra@debian.org> wrote:
>
> To me, an override implies that Lintian is wrong, and I don't think it
> is.
Why did you file a bug report? Please use an override. :)
Joking aside, I do not think you are right. An override indicates the
maintainer will not address something. When Lintian is wrong, people
file bug reports.
> (Whether the tag should exist is a different question; not all
> problems are worth fixing.)
The tag is not well-named, but its assertion is undisputed: The
upstream sources contain an empty directory.
Since your upstream is gone there is nothing you can do about it. You
should override it (caveat below).
> It's otherwise unactionable by the maintainer.
It is actionable in that we can contact upstream (if the project is
alive), but it will not improve the relationship. The tag is a
widespread problem in the archive and a nuisance to many people. The
tag should be removed. May I please retitle this bug?
> It's bad practice to ship empty directories
> in tarballs precisely because they're not representable in Git (and
> generally have a tendency to get lost in various ways).
I do not think it is necessarily bad practice to include empty
directories in tarballs, although I would not do so personally. They
are superfluous and should be ignored. If git, pristine-tar or other
tools cannot deal with them in ways that work for their users, those
are bugs over there.
> It means that if anything relied on the directory existing, the directory
> would be recreated by unpacking the source package and whatever relied on
> that would succeed.
Lintian can technically suppress the tag when a file is added the way
you describe (by comparing the patched index against the unpatched
index), but it would go against the spirit of the tag: Upstream
shipped an empty folder. No maintainer addition can change that.
As a side note, I disagree on the use of a placeholder. If the tag is
not removed, I would use an override instead.
Kind regards
Felix Lechner
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