On Monday 24 October 2005 21:36, Pedro M (Morphix User) wrote:
I would prefer an Ncurses screen in Debian where I could select:
That would be tasksel
Install desktop environment ?? yes /no
which does this already
What desktop to install ? Gnome / KDE / other (specify).
Now possible (since tasksel 2.30), though it will install both if they are
both available by default. Specifically (from the 2.30 changelog):
...
* Split out kde and gnome stuff from desktop into kde-desktop and
gnome-desktop.
* Both depend on the main desktop task (so both will be installed if
available when the desktop task is selected), and both are hidden since
a user should not need to choose between them.
* This allows CDs to leave off either KDE or Gnome (or both!) and still
get a working desktop task.
* It also allows derivitives to more easily choose to include only one of
the environments (via preseeding or by unhiding the tasks).
...
If no Gnome / KDE or other wide used desktop, Debian would look for
packages using apt-get or similar command (ie. fluxbox ).
yep, if desktop task is not installed this is what happens currently
The user could select important properties, like display-properties
using this Ncurses sytem.
would belong to xserver-org package, which already does this if I recall
correctly?
desktop-profiles concerns itself with a completely different problem: the
(conditional) activation and stacking of profiles (i.e configuration and/or
data sets) for the different desktop environments in a standard way.
This allows things like
- decopple the debian configuration setup for the various DE's from the
actual DE packages. This will allow Debian as a whole to explore
alternative approaches to the default desktop setup in parallel
(even on the same machine).
- allows CDD's/admin's to add their own configuration changes on top of the
Debian one's, to better adapt the default debian desktop for specific
purposes, and allow those to be combined.
(e.g. Debian-edu has a kde profile that set's up the desktop for
use in a debian-edu network, which might be stacked on top of a
debian-junior profile (currently unexisting) that sets up the DE for
kids that can't read yet in a kindergarten class)
- allows different configurations for different users (e.g. students vs.
teachers for debian-edu)