[aur-dev] SSH interface for modifying package metadata

[Lukas Fleischer]

Hi,

aurweb 4.2.0 will be released soon and one of its new features is an SSH
command to modify package metadata. Currently, only changing keywords is
supported and the syntax (in master) looks as follows:

    $ ssh aur at aur.archlinux.org config <pkgbase> keywords [...]

One of my concerns with that syntax is that "config" might be a bit too
general. For example, we might want to add commands to change account
settings later. Since it is not part of any public interface yet, this
is the right (and only) time to decide on proper naming.

Other suggestions:

    $ ssh aur at aur.archlinux.org modify <pkgbase> keywords [...]
    $ ssh aur at aur.archlinux.org set <pkgbase> keywords [...]

    $ ssh aur at aur.archlinux.org pkg-config <pkgbase> keywords [...]
    $ ssh aur at aur.archlinux.org pkg-modify <pkgbase> keywords [...]
    $ ssh aur at aur.archlinux.org pkg-set <pkgbase> keywords [...]
    $ ssh aur at aur.archlinux.org pkgbase-config <pkgbase> keywords [...]
    $ ssh aur at aur.archlinux.org pkgbase-modify <pkgbase> keywords [...]
    $ ssh aur at aur.archlinux.org pkgbase-set <pkgbase> keywords [...]

    $ ssh aur at aur.archlinux.org pkg <pkgbase> config keywords [...]
    $ ssh aur at aur.archlinux.org pkg <pkgbase> modify keywords [...]
    $ ssh aur at aur.archlinux.org pkg <pkgbase> set keywords [...]
    $ ssh aur at aur.archlinux.org pkg <pkgbase> set-keywords [...]
    $ ssh aur at aur.archlinux.org pkgbase <pkgbase> config keywords [...]
    $ ssh aur at aur.archlinux.org pkgbase <pkgbase> modify keywords [...]
    $ ssh aur at aur.archlinux.org pkgbase <pkgbase> set keywords [...]
    $ ssh aur at aur.archlinux.org pkgbase <pkgbase> set-keywords [...]

The first two options also have the disadvantage that they are quite
general. The options including "pkg" (but not "pkgbase") do not have
that problem but they are a bit misleading since those operations are
performed on package bases, not packages (and they require package base
names, not package names). The options including "pkgbase" describe the
semantics very well but they are quite complex and verbose.

I would really like to hear about your opinions/preferences.

Regards,
Lukas