Making some tags mandatory

[Ben Finney]

Enrico Zini <enrico at enricozini.org> writes:

> At the end of this mail is the list that I propose: it's 138 of
> them, but grouped as they are, they should be quite clear to grasp.
> I consider these groups of tags (debtags calls them facets) to be
> mature and uncontroversial enough to be made official and to ask
> maintaners to take care of them.

I like this proposal, thank you for presenting it.

>  * The list
> 
> Role of the package in the archive (mandatory for all packages):
> 
>   role::app-data - Application Data
>   role::data - Standalone Data
>   role::debug-symbols - Debugging symbols
>   role::devel-lib - Development Library
>   role::documentation - Documentation
>   role::dummy - Dummy Package
>   role::kernel - Kernel and Modules
>   role::metapackage - Metapackage
>   role::plugin - Plugin
>   role::program - Program
>   role::shared-lib - Shared Library
>   role::source - Source Code
> 
> Language that the package is implemented in (mandatory for all
> packages mostly consisting of software):

Arguably, *all* digital information is software (as contrasted with
the hardware that contains it), so every Debian package consists
entirely of software.

Whether or not you agree with that, it would be best for this proposal
if the set of packages for which “foo is mandatory” were clearly
deliniated:

    Language(s) that the package is implemented in. Mandatory for all
    packages mostly consisting of programs or program components
    (role::debug-symbols, role::devel-lib, role::kernel, role::plugin,
    role::program, role::shared-lib, role::source).

That is, the determination of whether an ‘implemented-in’ facet is
mandatory is whether the package has one of the enumerated tags from
the ‘role’ facet. (If that set of tags is wrong, feel free to correct
it of course.)

> User interface (mandatory for all packages mostly consisting of
> software):

Likewise:

    User interface(s) for the programs in the package. Mandatory for
    all packages mostly consisting of executable programs
    (role::plugin, role::program).

-- 
 \           “I do not believe in immortality of the individual, and I |
  `\        consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no |
_o__)  superhuman authority behind it.” —Albert Einstein, letter, 1953 |
Ben Finney