[development] Confused: package value of info files

[Khalid B]

On 12/22/06, Earnie Boyd <earnie at users.sourceforge.net> wrote:
>
> Quoting Gabor Hojtsy <gabor at 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.


Earnie

Names are  people make them mean. If the general public uses hacker for
what the tech community term cracker, and that catches on, then so be it,
despite the protests of the minority (the tech community).

In the Drupal universe, module has a very specific meaning. It means a file
called something.module, living in the modules directory or the
sites/something/
modules directory, and optionally a .install file (and as of 5.0, has its
own directory,
and a .info file).

It is too late to rename module, since that is what it meant and that is
what it
will continue to mean.

Module has other meanings in other parts of the industry, but that is
irrelevant
to us in the Drupal world.

> 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."


Personally, I never liked the name "install profile" because it somewhat
clashes
with the "profile module" that has specific fields for the users. It will
confuse
users.

I prefer to term them "packages", but I think Adrian is working on a broader
definition of package a la Debian way. (Hey Adrian, jump in and correct me
if I am wrong here).

If the name "package" is not reserved for some future thingie, then I am all

for renaming install profiles, although it may be too late to do so.
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