Re: If Debian wants to grow, let it grow. Or: King James reading Anarchy FAQ
[unlurking twice in one day - perhaps I should just participate and be done with
it. :-]
Dave Swegen wrote:
> As I see it packages fall into one of three categories:
>
> 1) Programs
> 2) Data associated with programs (ie King James, fortune, websters)
> 3) Data associated with linux/debian (FAQs, HOWTOs, policy manuals)
>
> (I could of course be entirely wrong about those categories, but I really
> can't be arsked to trawl through the 2.5k+ packages that we already have)
>
> IMHO I think this is as good a set of criteria as any other, and ensures a
> modicum of relevancy. Debian is growing fast enough as it is w/o having
> every single piece of use{full|less} info on the net debianised and bunged
> into the dist.
As I see it, we already have three categories:
1. main
2. contrib
3. non-free
If we agree that things like the Bible and the Anarchist FAQ don't belong in
Debian proper, why can't they be moved into contrib? That way, the contrib CD
can grow to a gazillion CDs if we want, and users aren't forced to buy them all
just to get Debian installed.
As a Christian, I find it handy that the Bible is just an "apt-get" call away,
but I'm not going to pretend that it has anything to do with the proper running
of an OS. If we accept that "information necessary for the proper running of a
relatively feature-rich OS" should be the criteria, then programs and necessary
data that provide services (like spellcheckers and "fortune" programs) could be
accepted into main, while other interesting but not necessary vital data (like
the Bible or the Anarchist FAQ) could be put in contrib.
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