[News.eclipse.technology.packaging] Is the Packaging tool Pde build pack

["Pascal Rapicault" <pascal_rapicault@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,

Since the call we had yesterday I have been thinking about the packaging 
tool. I deliver my thoughts here. Feel free to comment, ignore, etc...

The more I think about the packaging tool to be built in the context of this 
project and see what pde build packager offers, the less I see the need for 
developing another technology.
Of course I'm not saying that packager would fulfill all the needs of this 
project (for example currently it does not fetch from update site), however 
if we settle on building zips of various groups of plugins, then packager 
provides all the core functionality required. More importantly, since no new 
technology needs to be developed (to start with getting from an update site 
is not mandatory) the project could start producing those zips in time for 
Europa M5 which means that the community could be able to provide feedback 
on the various drops at eclipsecon.

For history, packager has been introduced in eclipse 3.0. The main two 
clients I know are:
    - SDK releng team which uses it to produce all the SDK downloads since 
february 2006
    - IBM to facilitate the consumption of various eclipse pieces by various 
teams

Note that I don't have any personal interest in promoting this technology 
nor has IBM. In fact if packager is adopted it would just add work to my 
plate :-). In the end I'm just looking for consistency, avoid reinventing 
the wheel and minimizing the confusion for the end users.

PaScaL