[Catalog-sig] start on static generation, and caching - apache config.

[Phillip J. Eby]

At 07:03 PM 7/10/2007 -0400, Jim Fulton wrote:
>Why should this imply case insensitivity of distribution project
>names.  Python has case sensitive module (including package) names
>that can lead to problems if two modules have names that differ only
>in case.

Module names are identifiers, with an already-restricted character 
set.  Package names are strings, and many people (especially those 
who enter their PyPI data through the web) assume they can put 
whatever the heck they want in there.


>   (I assume that Python 3000 retains this although, sadly, I
>don't know.)  We deal with this by telling people "don't do that."

Right...  and PyPI's input validation would be a good place to tell them.  :)


>Two packages with the same name except for case are incompatible, but
>then, so are modules with incompatible dependencies.

Compatibility isn't the only concern, it's also about confusion as to 
which package is which.  While one can't legislate away confusion, 
fixing simple, obvious errors that can and *do* occur in practice 
(like one package name having one space in it, the other having two!) 
is a good idea.

One of the things that prompted my search for a canonicalization 
strategy was my survey of existing CheeseShop packages, which 
actually included a certain amount of duplication due to changes in 
case or punctuation at one point.  (I believe the specific instances 
were fixed a long time ago, although I wouldn't rule out the 
possibility that some still exist.)