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Data/Doc-Packages



I think data-packaegs as a third form for packages behind source-packages
and binary-packes would be nice.

First, many programs need or suggest data in different forms or languages.
To pack a documentation of a program in a sererate package for each form 
(man/info/html) and each language would not fit within the current
inteligence dpkg has.
Then there is no easy way to find such data like you can find programms
with the menu-system. A webinterface to the bible and any form of versed
text would have to search manually the whole filesystem or would need
manual work by the user. (The same with documentation and so on).
An user has problems to install a .deb.

For this I suggest to make distinct data-packages with at least the
following attributes:

name: An unique name
language: as de_DE or something like this
type: text;text/html;man;info;text.gz;window-compressed-data(bible);
      ps;ps.gz;pdf;...

these three fields should identify a package. So there could be distinct
packages xyzdoc;de:DE;man , xyzdoc;de:CH;man and xyz;de:CH;info

So a bin-package xyz could "data-request" xyzdoc and which of theese
packages is installed is choosen by the installing program.  
I think a additional identifier for language or type would be nice.
For example, data-depends kjvbible >=1.3 type=wcd , or somethin like this
(I knoe, bible with versions is stupid, but it is an example)

And there should be some more attributes, I think:

classification: documentation;declarations(RFC,policies,...);law;
             cultural(bible);scientific(??);...
standard-path: I think such a small package should be only one file or
               one directory-content
description: A line what it is (for example for an web-interface)

If root installs the package, it should go to standard-path, else
somewhere in the users home-dir, for example as
~/.debdata/<classification>/<type>/<language>/<name>

Then there should be a global and a local file, where installed packages
are kept in a list. So any programm could search for specific files.
(For example, all docs in a specific language,...)

I thought of another global file, where a user can add his installed data,
he want to make accesable for all users, so that only one user has to
install a specific package and others can use it. But I don't know how to
fix the resulting security problems.

To make man-pages and other things installable by such a system, there
should be something, which is started, when a specific format is added, so 
that specific indexes can be updated, the file be linked somewhere or
other things.

To come back zu install using dpkg or apt there should be some kind of
config-file, which packages are to installed, if a specific data-depend
does not include the type or the language. The topic for language is easy,
just a list of languages always to install and a list, which language to
use if none of theese laguages is available and so on. 

If there is positiv response to this proposal, I will start to write a
prototype for it. (But because of my less time, it would first useable for
woody+3 (or woody+4) 

Hochachtungsvoll,
  Bernhard R. Link
 


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