[Catalog-sig] disallowing the removal of packages?

[Jacob Kaplan-Moss]

On Mon, Jul 4, 2011 at 2:25 PM, Georg Brandl <g.brandl at gmx.net> wrote:
> I have to agree.  Any hosting service that doesn't allow me to remove
> uploaded content looks extremely fishy to me.

It pains me, but I have to agree as well.

If I had a nickel for each time I've been bitten by a package
disappearing off PyPI... well, I'd be able to buy a few beers, at
least. I believe, as I've argued in the past, that PyPI's raison
d'être is to be a cataloging resource *for package authors* — if we
want to prevent fragmentation, then we have to make PyPI the "path of
least resistance" for packagers. This means PyPI can't be in the
business of making these sorts of decisions on authors' behalf.

Not that we shouldn't get upset when a package vanishes. I'd be all
for some public chastisement in those cases... (80% joking).

Jacob