Hi,

Some of my points are probably already covered in your list, but let me
show my wishlist:

portage-ng should be ...

- completely based on exchangable components (I don't like the term
plugin here as plugins are IMO always optional) and each component
should have a well defined interface as well as metadata stating
dependencies on other components (e.g. a DB based tree backend needs a
DB compatible sync mechanism and parser).

- statically typed, so it can be better checked for errors before
released. I realize that this might not be possible in several
languages, but then at least we should enforce consistent typenames in
the API documentation (as currently you often have to read the source to
find out what parameter a function really wants).

- able to be used as a secondary package manager, this would also
include the ability to enable users to install packages in their
homedirs using system packages for the dependencies. One important part
of this is implementing pathspec.

- as secure as possible. This includes signed packages (both source and
binary) and automatic priorization of security related updates.

That's all for now, but I think my first point implicates many other
points mentioned by you. Let me elaborate a bit more by giving an
example what components could be used in the current portage:
- ebuild parser
- metadata parser
- profile parser
- config parser
- packagename/version parser
- dependency resolver
- rsync sync component
- cvs sync component
- http sync component (for snapshots)
- filesystem portdir storage component
- filesystem package database storage component
- searching component
...

So now the portagesql guys for example could just write different
portdir storage, sync and metadata parser components to use mysql as a
backend for the metadata instead of re-implementing portage completely.
For the dependency example above their storage component would need
their sync component or, more flexible, it implements some write()
functions that could be used by sync components implementing a suitable
interface (but for instance a storage component for cd-rom based
snapshots could not do that). I hope you get the idea.

Marius

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