[pacman-dev] pacman-disowned

[Jeremy Heiner]

I'm using -Qkkk right now (easy hack, minimal footprint), but like the
output format that can easily be tweaked.

One reason I keep associating this new find untracked feature with the
existing '--check's is that they are algorithmic cousins. From the
controller (query.c) point of view these 3 features are called in
basically identical ways. And from the implementation (check.c) view
they all have the same shape (for each file in list call 1 or more
predicates). However, I'm definitely not implying that implementation
details should dictate user interface.

But there seems to be a deeper reason. It's rooted in the use case.
Consider what actions the user must do to achieve the goal. At a
minimum(*) they must invoke pacman twice. Just -Qk isn't enough
because it ignores the mtrees. And just -Qkk checks nothing for
packages without an mtree. Am I wrong to think that adding another
step is the wrong direction to go to help the user achieve their goal?

So I want to advocate for a solution that does all the steps in a
single invocation. I don't want to remove the ability to run the steps
independently. In fact, I think it makes a lot of sense for the output
of the single invocation to be very terse, providing the 10,000 foot
view, and the user needs to re-invoke (w/ different args) for more
detail on any problems noted in the overview.

(*)Are there other steps that should be folded in? My brain is so down
in the weeds of the implementation right now that I don't completely
trust my view of the trees, much less the forest.