XPost: linux.debian.maint.dpkg   
   From: gioele@svario.it   
      
   On 19/02/26 13:26, Guillem Jover wrote:   
   > On Thu, 2026-02-19 at 10:12:56 +0100, Gioele Barabucci wrote:   
   >> On 19/02/26 03:47, Guillem Jover wrote:   
   >>>> Could `--arch=foo` be modified to mean "strictly foo, without all"?   
   >>>> Alternatively could a new option like `--arch-strict=foo` be   
   >>>> introduced, if you believe that the old behavior should not change?   
   >>>   
   >>> I don't think changing the semantics for --arch would be correct, as   
   >>> this is how it has been documented, and how people have relied on this   
   >>> option working. Instead I've added a new --no-implicit-arch option,   
   >>> which removes the implicit addition of the arch-all packages, so then   
   >>> you can run twice with --arch=foo and then --arch=all for example.   
   >   
   >> If I am allowed to bikeshed a bit, as a user I'd find   
   >>   
   >>      --no-implicit-arch-all   
   >>   
   >> or   
   >>   
   >>      --no-implicit-archs   
   >>   
   >> more explicit and easier to spot when looking for that kind of   
   >> change of semantics. (Inner dialogue: "no implicit arch? which arch   
   >> is implicit?".)   
   >   
   > I actually started with --no-arch-all, but then when I was testing   
   > that, it started to look very odd or even confusing, for example with:   
   >   
   >    $ dpkg-scanpackages --no-arch-all --arch=all .   
      
   Yeah, that is slightly confusing.   
      
   > And while --no-implicit-arch-all, at least makes clear it's about the   
   > arch being implicit, it also seemed very long (so less ergonomic).   
      
   Better long than confusing, right? :)   
      
   > I'm   
   > not sure I see a difference with using the plural archs though. :)   
      
   For me `--no-implict-arch` raises the question "which arch is implicit?   
   arch-all, the one I'm running this command from? what about a   
   cross-compiled dpkg?", while `--no-implicit-archs` is simply "no archs   
   will be implicitly added", something that does not require additional   
   thought.   
      
   A final suggestion. Maybe using a positive statement helps?   
   "--only-requested-arch" or "--only-arch"?   
      
   Regards,   
      
   --   
   Gioele Barabucci   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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