[maemo-developers] Application Manager and Extras-devel: Dealing with unstable software

[From: tz]

> The user has the options:
>
> 1. Wait until it is officially promoted to Extras
>
> 2. Learn to deal with having Extras-Devel active (maybe a FAQ or HOWTO
>
> would help)
>
> 3. Blow themselves up.
>
> So, basically, your solution is 'do nothing because people should know
> better'? It doesn't matter what you tell people, they'll leave it enabled
> anyway.
>
> Why WOULDN'T you do something if there's a reasonably simple software
> solution?

Because there is no reasonably simple software solution.  Extras-devel
is already for unstable beta.  But it has to be complete (e.g. if I
have the main user stuff plus dependent libraries or utilities).
Trying to make it both a real repository and not-a-real repository at
the same time isn't simple.

Even if you do something like this, users will turn on, or ignore, or
whatever it takes to bypass the safeties to get to the shiny bit of
unstable code.

Putting extra layers simply impedes those who know what they are
doing.  If the solution is simple and easy, it is simply and easily
bypassed which is the current problem (and changing infrastructure and
programs is usually not as simple as advertised and I have a large
list of things which should be addressed first).  If the solution
makes things hard or tedious, it does so for everyone.  If it isn't
something very close to userland (e.g. another "red-pill mode), it
won't be a valid test of loadability.  Even now it isn't trivial to
add extras-devel.

Another theoretical way is one repository per project or group or
whatever (which is probably worse - e.g. when updating python-runtime,
you need all those packages in one place).  extras-devel-myproject,
extras-devel-yourproject...  Each with their own packages,
subdirectories...

But again, you're getting away from using the Application Manager much
as the user would use it and creating a special, safe, developer-only
mode.  So things will work after the special unlocks and the DANGER!
confirmation dialogs, but not when promoted to Extras.