[Bug 1999669] Re: unclear YAML style and version

[Lukas Märdian]

Netplan is using libyaml in the background to handle the YAML data,
which only supports YAML v1.1 at this time. Furthermore, Netplan needs
to stay backwards compatible with the "yes/"no" booleans and we cannot
easily break the existing schema.

I've updated our documentation to mention this:
https://netplan.readthedocs.io/en/latest/reference.html
https://github.com/canonical/netplan/commit/db043801d0d7838d84cb7d0e4e07b6088e2d5771

And I will update this bug report to be a feature request for YAML v1.2
spec support.

** Changed in: netplan
   Importance: Medium => Low

** Changed in: netplan.io (Ubuntu)
       Status: Triaged => Invalid

** Summary changed:

- unclear YAML style and version
+ Upgrade to Netplan schema to YAML 1.2.x spec

** Changed in: netplan
   Importance: Low => Wishlist

** Summary changed:

- Upgrade to Netplan schema to YAML 1.2.x spec
+ Upgrade Netplan schema to YAML 1.2.x spec

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1999669

Title:
  Upgrade Netplan schema to YAML 1.2.x spec

Status in netplan:
  Triaged
Status in netplan.io package in Ubuntu:
  Invalid

Bug description:
  Neither the man page of Netplan in Ubuntu nor the documentation on
  https://netplan.io states what Version of YAML Netplan is using or
  what style guidelines one should adhere too.

  The link on the website behind "YAML" links to the YAML 1.1 Spec, but there is no other way to notice this is the used version. I would expect that when a specific Version isn't stated, the latest version is used, which is not the case. I would therefore suggest, Netplan switches to YAML version 1.2.2.
  Independent of that, I believe, the YAML version should be stated explicitly in the documentation.

  Especially for the booleans this becomes an issue. 'yes' and 'no' are only valid booleans in YAML 1.1, but not YAML 1.2.x. Especially with the irritating mix of 'yes'/'no' and 'true'/'false' in the documentation and the examples - sometimes even within one configuration or for one option - this is very confusing.
  I would strongly suggest that Netplan switches to using 'true'/'false' exclusively and at least issues some statement about style on that. This would be also useful for any potential future upgrade in the used YAML version.

  Also Netplan documentation, man pages and examples use a confusing mix
  of flow style and block style. Though I would suggest to choose and
  use only a single style for the whole config for simplicity and
  clarity reasons, it would be at least good to not use different styles
  for the exact same option without any explanation or mention that
  these too functionally equivalent styles exist in YAML and both
  supported in Netplan.

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