Re: ebuilds in XML

Benjamin Judas [[email protected]] wrote:
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> Here is my idea of the ebuilds in XML:
> 
> I am thinking of an ebuild completely written in XML.
> 
> When "emerging" a special xslt is applied to the XML-file which translates the 
> XML-file into a regular shell-script which then is executed.
> 
> Pleas see the attachments. I know, they aren't very impressive - it's just an 
> example, how to translate them into a shell-script.
> 

Can someone explain to me the benefit of writing something in XML so we 
can translate it to a shell script over just writing it in shell in the 
first place?

This is an honest question, not a flame or anything.  If there's a real                   
benefit to this I'd like to understand it.  As a sysadmin running a                       
distribution, I'd much rather tweak a shell script to build differently,                  
than have to wade through an XML document and try to figure out what the                  
heck is going on just to make a small change.                                             

The only thing I've commonly heard is making it easier to parse for tools,                
for generating ebuilds and such.  And I understand wanting to keep things                 
simple for the ebuild developers/maintainers.  However, I think we need to                
make sure we don't lose sight of the people who are going to USE the                      
distribution.  I also would like to be reassured we're not getting into the               
realm of using XML just because it's the newest thing, and not because we                 
have a specific need for it.