[gentoo-dev] [RFC] Gentoo news extension: Display-If-Visible

[gentoo-dev] [RFC] Gentoo news extension: Display-If-Visible

[Mike Gilbert]

Many news items are only relevant when upgrading a package from one
version to another. For fresh installs, the user does not need to take
any action. A good example of this is the recent gcc upgrade from 4.9
to 5.

In this context, it is often desirable to inform the user of a major
change in a package before they upgrade it. This would give them time
to prepare, and allow to skip the upgrade until they are ready.

This is technically possible with the current news item format by
using a Display-If-Installed header. However, this has a few problems
depending on how you format the dependency spec.

Display-If-Installed: cat/pkg
This will be displayed to too many users.

Display-If-Installed: >=cat/pkg-ver
This will be displayed to users only after they have upgraded.

Display-If-Installed: <cat/pkg-ver
This targets the right people, but the message will be displayed too
early for stable users.

I would like to introduce a new header "Display-If-Visible". This
would restrict display of the news item to users for which the given
dependency is visible according to their ACCEPT_KEYWORDS and
package.accept_keywords settings.

Example usage:

Display-If-Installed: <sys-devel/gcc-5
Display-If-Visible: >=sys-devel/gcc-5

Comments?

Re: [gentoo-dev] [RFC] Gentoo news extension: Display-If-Visible

[Michał Górny]

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On śro, 2017-05-24 at 13:13 -0400, Mike Gilbert wrote:
> Many news items are only relevant when upgrading a package from one
> version to another. For fresh installs, the user does not need to take
> any action. A good example of this is the recent gcc upgrade from 4.9
> to 5.
> 
> In this context, it is often desirable to inform the user of a major
> change in a package before they upgrade it. This would give them time
> to prepare, and allow to skip the upgrade until they are ready.
> 
> This is technically possible with the current news item format by
> using a Display-If-Installed header. However, this has a few problems
> depending on how you format the dependency spec.
> 
> Display-If-Installed: cat/pkg
> This will be displayed to too many users.
> 
> Display-If-Installed: >=cat/pkg-ver
> This will be displayed to users only after they have upgraded.
> 
> Display-If-Installed: <cat/pkg-ver
> This targets the right people, but the message will be displayed too
> early for stable users.
> 
> I would like to introduce a new header "Display-If-Visible". This
> would restrict display of the news item to users for which the given
> dependency is visible according to their ACCEPT_KEYWORDS and
> package.accept_keywords settings.
> 
> Example usage:
> 
> Display-If-Installed: <sys-devel/gcc-5
> Display-If-Visible: >=sys-devel/gcc-5
> 
> Comments?
> 

https://archives.gentoo.org/gentoo-dev/message/7f5ff2c0a844050f846516a6af39bb06

(and the replies to that)

-- 
Best regards,
Michał Górny

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Re: [gentoo-dev] [RFC] Gentoo news extension: Display-If-Visible

[Mike Gilbert]

On Wed, May 24, 2017 at 1:29 PM, Michał Górny <mgorny@gentoo.org> wrote:
> On śro, 2017-05-24 at 13:13 -0400, Mike Gilbert wrote:
>> Many news items are only relevant when upgrading a package from one
>> version to another. For fresh installs, the user does not need to take
>> any action. A good example of this is the recent gcc upgrade from 4.9
>> to 5.
>>
>> In this context, it is often desirable to inform the user of a major
>> change in a package before they upgrade it. This would give them time
>> to prepare, and allow to skip the upgrade until they are ready.
>>
>> This is technically possible with the current news item format by
>> using a Display-If-Installed header. However, this has a few problems
>> depending on how you format the dependency spec.
>>
>> Display-If-Installed: cat/pkg
>> This will be displayed to too many users.
>>
>> Display-If-Installed: >=cat/pkg-ver
>> This will be displayed to users only after they have upgraded.
>>
>> Display-If-Installed: <cat/pkg-ver
>> This targets the right people, but the message will be displayed too
>> early for stable users.
>>
>> I would like to introduce a new header "Display-If-Visible". This
>> would restrict display of the news item to users for which the given
>> dependency is visible according to their ACCEPT_KEYWORDS and
>> package.accept_keywords settings.
>>
>> Example usage:
>>
>> Display-If-Installed: <sys-devel/gcc-5
>> Display-If-Visible: >=sys-devel/gcc-5
>>
>> Comments?
>>
>
> https://archives.gentoo.org/gentoo-dev/message/7f5ff2c0a844050f846516a6af39bb06
>
> (and the replies to that)

Thanks for the pointer. I suppose I'll just draft something for the GLEP change.