[Python-Dev] Keyword meanings [was: Accept just PEP-0426] (original) (raw)

PJ Eby pje at telecommunity.com
Thu Dec 6 01🔞15 CET 2012

On Wed, Dec 5, 2012 at 5:30 PM, Daniel Holth <dholth at gmail.com> wrote:

My desire is to invent the useful "wheel" binary package format in a reasonable and limited amount of time by making changes to Metadata 1.2 and implementing the new metadata format and wheel in distribute and pip. Help me out by allowing useless but un-changed fields to remain in this version of the PEP. I am done with the PEP and submit that it is not worse than its predecessor.

You could just mark those fields as deprecated and that they should not be used to delete packages or block packages from installation.

Justification: nobody has managed to make them work in an automated tool yet, and their use in same is controversial, so they are downgraded to human-informational only.

Please, let's not have yet another metadata spec that advertises these attractive nuisance[1] fields. I do not want us to be having this same conversation AGAIN the next time any metadata changes are being considered. We've already had it too many times already. PEPs are supposed to summarize these discussions for that very reason.

[1] For non-native speakers, an attractive nuisance is a dangerous thing that entices unsuspecting persons to play with it; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attractive_nuisance_doctrine has more details.

More information about the Python-Dev mailing list