[Guidelines] MUST: use ExcludeArch over ExclusiveArch

[Alex Hudson]

Hi everyone,

I have a small issue with the review of the v8 package that I'm
currently looking at:

	https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=634909#c18

The short story is this; the packaging guidelines state that for every
architecture a package doesn't build on, the .spec should list an
ExcludeArch:, which should be updated with a specific #bz link.

I derive my understanding for this requirement from:

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures#ExcludeArch_.26_ExclusiveArch

Which says:

        "By using ExcludeArch on an arch by arch basis, it enables the
        majority of packages to have the chance to build on new
        secondary architectures, rather than being immediately ignored
        by a blanket ExclusiveArch."

In this case, with v8 basically being little more than a Javascript
compiler / JIT system, it's not so much a package with portability
problems than a package which is genuinely going to take serious work to
get going on other architectures other than the current x86/arm.

It doesn't make a lot of sense to me to ask Lubomir, the packager, to
change the current ExclusiveArch, because I think that is the more
correct expression of what this software supports. However, as a MUST:
requirement this is a review blocker.

Now, what to do? I suppose in a sense this is a Packaging Committee
issue, however, the packaging guidelines and the review guidelines are
separate documents - and I don't get the sense from the review
guidelines that there is an established method of overriding a MUST:

Obviously for expeditious reasons the change to the .spec could be made
to "dance the dance" as it were, but would I really get put on the
naughty step if I thought it should be approved as-is?

Thanks

Alex.


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