Re: [Caml-list] Re: [Godi-list] GODI is shutting down

[David Sheets <sheets@alum.mit.edu>]

On Tue, Jul 23, 2013 at 4:32 PM, Pierre-Etienne Meunier
<pierreetienne.meunier@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm only using my os' package manager at this time, so I am not part of the troll.
> But I find that Gerd made an interesting point, a few mails ago:
>
>> So far I've removed Core from GODI because it misses QA standards, and
>> have no plans to add it again.
>>
>> Gerd
>
> A part of the troll has consisted of arguments about github, which is a non-open-source centralized version of what we had before. I you create a repository to distribute a cool open source replacement of github, with enough extra features to kiil them in one week, and an innovative system that pays you to host your content, I believe the people at github have the right to shut your repository down.

OPAM uses git. git is distributed. Github is a tool that you can (and
they do) use with git.

> It seems that neither godi nor opam do any better (for this particular point, of course): the dictator is different in the three cases, but there is a dictator. In the case of opam, he has a friend dictator (github).

There is no required dictator with OPAM. You may create your own
git-based opam repository and use it with your own package
descriptions in your own namespace. It is very flexible.

> Will we see opam become distributed? It would be awesome to be able to send packages back and forth between the repositories, without any centralized decision maker, just as in darcs, for instance. Ocaml has this property of being an atomic unix tool, conceived in this way, right?

You can do this, today. Simply send an email patch from your local
opam repository to your friends.

Hope this helps,

David