Comments regarding pd-arraysize_0.1-1_amd64.changes

[Hans-Christoph Steiner]

On Nov 5, 2010, at 7:01 PM, Roman Haefeli wrote:

> On Fri, 2010-11-05 at 19:10 -0300, Felipe Sateler wrote:
>> On Fri, Nov 5, 2010 at 00:51, Hans-Christoph Steiner  
>> <hans at at.or.at> wrote:
>
>>> As for packaging pd-arraysize together with other things, as far  
>>> as I
>>> know, it is not Debian practice to lump together different upstream
>>> projects into a single package, I don't think its a good idea here
>>> either.
>>>
>>
>> It is perfectly acceptable, although not common. If there are more pd
>> objects that are small, then just bundle them together.
>
> I just happened to read on the pd-list, that [arraysize] is actually
> obsolete, since this functionality is already built into both puredata
> and pd-extended: [expr size("$s1")]
>
> Personally, I don't see a point in supporting double functionality.  
> And
> since this library doesn't do anything else, I'd actually prefer to
> completely disregard it. I don't think that keeping it alive solely  
> for
> the sake of not breaking existing patches with future Debian version  
> is
> a good reason, especially since fixing those patches is so easy. In  
> this
> case I value tidiness of the pd-lib space more than backward
> compatibility. Better not adding it in the first place than removing  
> it
> afterwards.
>
> I'm interested to hear other opinions on this.
>
> Roman


pd-arraysize is a special case, not an example of how to do things.  
There are plenty of simple packages in Debian, like simple kernel  
modules for a very specific device.  In general packaging a single  
simple object not a good idea, IMHO, but this one has a long legacy.

arraysize has many uses, and is still widely used by people in their  
patches, I use it regularly.  It is also widely used in many Pd docs.   
And many people prefer the simple syntax of typing "arraysize" vs  
"expr size($s1)".  Additionally, expr is GPL and arraysize is public  
domain, so some people will use arraysize for that reason (i.e. a  
proprietary app based on Pd like rjdj).

.hc

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