GNU bug report logs - #76197
[PROPOSED] gzip: drop support for the GZIP env var

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Message #24 received at 76197-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Lasse Collin <lasse.collin <at> tukaani.org>
To: Antonio Diaz Diaz <antonio <at> gnu.org>
Cc: 76197-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#76197: [PROPOSED] gzip: drop support for the GZIP env var
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2025 18:30:40 +0200

On 2025-02-23 Antonio Diaz Diaz wrote:
> Have you considered that removing GZIP, as Paul did originally, would 
> maximize reliability, minimize maintenance work,

I considered both pros and cons, including those pros you mentioned.
The cons are backward compatibility concerns and removal of a useful
feature (when used responsibly). I guess those cons don't matter to you,
but maintainers tend to consider such things especially when it's a
widely-used package.

For example, here is a Debian bug from 2020 about the GZIP deprecation
warning appearing in dgit:

    https://bugs-devel.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=975624

Previous the code used gzip in a pipe via tar. The fix for the
deprecation warning was to use a temporary file:

    https://salsa.debian.org/dgit-team/dgit/-/commit/710c9b49fff4001521dbb61c5df12156ae62f837

As you can see, the committer knew it made things worse, but it was a
quick way to fix the warning. Sometimes compromises are made; I'm not
criticizing the committer in any way. It's just an example where
changing an old and somewhat widely-used feature can have mildly
negative consequences *in practice* (this is an observation, not
critique). To be clear, I think restricting the options allowed in GZIP
was a positive change.

bug-gzip is a fairly quiet list, and small packages don't get much
feedback, so I thought it could be useful to express my thoughts. I
hope it was the right thing to do. Thanks!

-- 
Lasse Collin

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