On Wed, 24 Oct 2001 23:37:33 +0930  Berndt Josef Wulf wrote:
> This patch will allow to relocate PLIST and DESCR files into the toplevel
> directory whilst maintaining backward compatibility with the current version
> allowing a progressive conversion of all packages over time.
> 
> The reason for this change is to eliminate thousands of directories and files
 
> needed to accommodate two files in their own directory and to speed up
> cvs processes, e.g. reduce processing time synchronizing the cvs tree.
> 
> I've been running my system with this patch applied since approximately March
> this year and haven't seen any ill effects.
> 
> I entertain your comments

FYI,
FreeBSD people had done a similar thing a couple of month ago with the addition
of some file renaming:
pkg/PLIST -> pkg-plist
pkg/DESCR -> pkg-descr
pkg/INSTALL -> pkg-install
pkg/DEINSTALL -> pkg-deintall
pkg/MESSAGE -> pkg-message