Quoting Gabor Hojtsy <gabor@hojtsy.hu>:
On Thu, 21 Dec 2006, Earnie Boyd wrote:
<quote>If your module comes with other modules or is meant to be used exclusively with other modules, enter the name of the package here.</quote> Hmm... It uses Taxonomy ... Hmm... That must be the package string value I should use for my package.
Earnie, "package" and "module" are not the same things.
That really depends on which definition you use for package and which one you use for module. I think this definition for product from IBM as found using define:product on Google fits well: "An installable unit of a software product. Software product packages are separately installable units that can operate independently from other packages of that software product." For module I find "A program unit that is discrete and identifiable with respect to compiling, combining with other units, and loading." Since package and module both resolve to a unit of software I think of them as synonymous.
Package is a module suite, in which the modules are usually architected to work closely together (like the links package, ecommerce, the erp module suite, etc). Core modules are not forming module suites with contrib modules. Contrib modules themselfs can form module suites. You won't have taxonomy module listed with other taxonomy related modules in your module list for sure. There is no taxonomy module suite (package).
The definition for package Drupal needs to promote is one as found in the same Google search I mentioned above: "A package is a collection of modules related by authorship, maintenance, or distribution." Earnie