[Distutils] RFC: PEP 541 - Package Index Name Retention

[Barry Warsaw]

On Jan 13, 2017, at 10:08 AM, Lukasz Langa wrote:

>PEP: 541
>Title: Package Index Name Retention

Overall, +1

I agree with Steve that some short term name squatting may be appropriate.
I'm not sure how you would word that in the PEP, but it will probably
effectively work itself out anyway.  When I come up with a name for a new
project, one of the first things I do is check PyPI and reserve it before the
first upload.  But that first upload will usually happen pretty quickly.

>Name conflict resolution for active projects
>--------------------------------------------
>
>The maintainers of the Package Index are not arbiters in disputes
>around *active* projects.  There are many possible scenarios here,
>a non-exclusive list describing some real-world examples is presented
>below. None of the following qualify for package name ownership
>transfer:

This is another opportunity to encourage cooperation among the parties to
resolve naming conflicts.  I think that's what's called for by the CoC, and
the hope is that the vast majority of disputes (in practice which I think are
pretty rare anyway) can be amicably resolved.

It does bring to mind the ability or lack thereof for renaming projects.  IIRC
that's not possible in current PyPI software but it may be possible in
Warehouse.

As for trademark owners having priority over names, I suppose there's no way
to prevent that, I'm mostly glad that this PEP doesn't speak to that.   I'm
always edgy about the imbalance of power inherent in the issue, allowing a
trademark owner to abuse their power to take over long-established names.
OTOH, trademark owners do often have legitimate concerns against squatters.
So, I say leave all that out of the PEP.

Cheers,
-Barry
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