[Python-Dev] Edits to Metadata 1.2 to add extras (optional dependencies)

[R. David Murray]

On Tue, 28 Aug 2012 18:08:51 +0200, =?UTF-8?B?Ik1hcnRpbiB2LiBMw7Z3aXMi?= <martin at v.loewis.de> wrote:
> Am 28.08.12 17:17, schrieb Donald Stufft:
> > If the point of a registry is
> > to remove ambiguity from what any particular key means, won't expiring
> > and allowing reregistration of an in use name (even if it's no longer being
> > uploaded, but is still available inside of a package) reintroduce that same
> > ambiguity?
> 
> No: if nobody renews the old registration, it's because the extension is
> not in use. So the case you are constructing won't happen in practice.
> 
> > How will we know that requires-unicode-version from a package
> > uploaded a year ago and has since expired is different than
> > requires-unicode-version
> > from a package uploaded yesterday and has been reregistered?
> 
> If the packages that were uploaded a year ago are still in active use,
> somebody will renew the registration. So the case won't happen.
> 
> If nobody cares about the specific field, it may break, which is
> then well-deserved.

The problem Donald is asking about is:  the old registration expires,
and a *new* registration is entered with a different meaning, but
packages still exist on PyPI that have the key with the old meaning.
That seems likely to happen in practice.  Or if it doesn't, then
allowing for the recycling of names probably isn't important.

--
R. David Murray

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