On Mon, Apr 06, 1998 at 10:40:25PM -0400, Avery Pennarun wrote: > On Mon, Apr 06, 1998 at 10:13:30PM -0400, Fabien Ninoles wrote: > > > An example? > > Package: C Development > > Recommends: gcc, gdb, libc5-dev > > Suggest: clint, ddd | xxgdb, bison, [put on a second line for best view] > > emacs | joe | emacsen, kernel-package, kernel-source-2.0.33 > > Description: Debian C Development Package > > This choice gives you the bare minimum if you want to do some > > programmation on your computer. In fact, it gives you everything you > > want for recompiling your kernel, one of the most primordial task to > > do for every Linux hackers. > > While we're looking at alternate ways of doing package pre-selections, how > about the reverse: each package has a field listing the pre-selections that > it belongs to. > > This works sort of like the "menu" package, and is much more scalable (and > maintainable) than simply listing all the packages that belong to a set. A > package can belong to more than one group, and Apt would automatically pull > in dependencies if you enable a group. So, for example, 'jed' could have a > line: > > Preselect-Groups: text-workstation, developer > > Meaning that 'jed' is useful on a text-based workstation, or in general for > a software development box. With this approach, pre-selections do not need > to be mutually exclusive, either. > Isn't what categories and priorities was about? > > The other advantage of this, as I hinted above, is scalability and > maintainability. A new package can add itself automatically to the > 'developer' set, for example. If the package disappears, it is simply no > longer part of the 'developer' set. > > Maybe we should have sublevels too: for example, "objective caml" isn't > exactly important for most developers, but Real Programmers who must have at > least one copy of every langugage in existence might want it. On the other > hand, perhaps this is adding too much complexity, and it's best to let > people add their own entries when they get to that point. > I think the point here are more about 'general access' then specific needs like the one above. The package selection tool <who aren't the same as the profile selection of apt> should let a user selected the more "fundamental" packages between all possible choices for its first need. When he acquires more experience after that, we can let it tuning his machine more toward his real needs. IMHO, Debian was the best distribution for doing so, making it easiest to be kept update where you want without necessarely tempering the stability of the machine. That's why Debian is considered to be the best choice for the long run. We just try to make it a little more friendly for the first coming without sacrificing this high standard (and that's what I think Bruce blamed about Debian - the no-sacrifice part I mean), just to be the best overall :) > Just thinking out loud... > > Have fun, > > Avery > Yes, that's what it should be. Having fun and Working Harder to have even more fun. (Especially when you see people taking all this time to figure out why their new user friendly word processor behave this way... ) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fabien Ninoles - Linux, because working hard deserve a result. E-mail: fab@tzone.org WebPage: http://www.callisto.si.usherb.ca/~94246757 You can get my public key from your nearest public keys server! RSA PGP KEY [E3723845]: 1C C1 4F A6 EE E5 4D 99 4F 80 2D 2D 1F 85 C1 70 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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