Xavier Hanin wrote:
On 11/8/06, Steve Loughran <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Both systems, by default, should check for updates to the
metadata on a regular basis, because it does take a while to stabilise.
I'm not sure about this point... well, I'm not opposed to the idea,
but it
requires more reflexion. IMO metadata should never be modified, except in
way that ensure backward compatibility, because it's the only to ensure
build reproducibility over time, which is a key concept IMO. So making a
check for updates a default may encourage updates. But if we find a way to
ensure that an update is backward compatible, then it would make more sense
to me. But maybe this is not applicable for a public repository like the
one
maven has. So maybe the default should simply be different for a public
repository and for a private/home made one.
Xavier
I understand that everyone wants stable, flawless metadata, but it
doesnt happen. With what we have today, the tools' caches stay frozen
the moment they do their first fetch, so if things change then old
machines never pick up the problem. Case in point, some of our machines
here had a commons-logging that included log4j and logkit, even though
they are now marked as optional in the pom. as a result, different
machines build differently.
We need to recognise that infallibility-of-metadata is an unrealistic
ideal and adapt to it.
