[Zope3-dev] Re: We should be able to stop unhiding PyPI releases.

[Tres Seaver]

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Jim Fulton wrote:
> As of Monday's zc.buildout release, buildout now uses the simple  
> package index:
> 
>    http://cheeseshop.python.org/simple
> 
> by default.  (You can cause it to use another index by setting the  
> buildout index option.)
> 
> This change should provide significantly better performance and will  
> make it easier to use historical releases, because the simple  
> interfaces shows releases that have been hidden from the human  
> interface.
> 
> Normally, when new releases are registered with PyPI, old releases  
> are hidden.  This has been a problem for buildouts or application  
> packages that fix package versions, because hidden releases weren't  
> visible to setuptools.  To get around this, we had to unhide old  
> releases, which was a pain.  The simple package index shows all  
> releases, including hidden ones.  Now that buildout uses the simple  
> index by default, hidden packages should no longer be a problem, at  
> least for buildout users.  People using easy_install can configure it  
> to use the simple index.  They might want to lobby to have  
> easy_install use the simple index by default.
> 
> If there are no strong objections, I plan to stop unhiding old releases.

I would argue that hiding old releases is a major misfeature of PyPI,
personally:  humans probably have as much to gain from seeing the older
versions as scripts.  Even "brown bag" releases should remain available
(albeit, with perhaps some way to tag them as problematic).

Releasing a software package is a contract which implies more than
"flavor of the week" status, at least in lots of circles.


Tres.
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Tres Seaver          +1 540-429-0999          tseaver at palladion.com
Palladion Software   "Excellence by Design"    http://palladion.com
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