Re: apt-get install wordperfect?

[Mark Mealman <mmealman@concentric.net>]

> >> There use to be a star office isntaller deb and a netscape installer deb.
> >> they required you download the tars from the vendors, but once you did,
> >> they would install them for you.  Maybe this functionality could be
> >> abstracted, and a vnedor need only fill in a few fields?  Just thoughts :)
> 
> > And they could be modified to automatically download the needed files.
> 
> It could be an addition to the control-files, so that apt knows that
> an external file is depended on, that can be downloaded from this and
> that url.  That way, it will be more automated than if it gets in the
> postinst or something.  The install-script version requires you
> asking for the program twice, sort of.. or that you are still
> connected to the net while the packages are being installed.  The
> size-information should include the external package needed...


Is it too much to ask commercial companies to create .debs?

Right now we're seeing tarballs coming out for a lot of the software on
the market, but will it be that way 2 years from now?

I'd be willing to bet we'll start seeing Linux-oriented software
companies shipping rpms.

And if Debian made room for commercial software in its archives, I don't
think it'd be too much to ask the companies to run alien on the rpms.
It'd be a Bad Thing(IMHO) to divert Debian developers away from making
.debs and distribution debugging GPL projects to handle commercial
software.


My origional thought was that even if companies create .deb files
there's no way for the .deb's to make it into the Debian archives
proper. It's my understanding that currently each Debian package is
uploaded only by package maintainer. But what about debians created by
authors that are not maintainers?

If Microsoft ported Office and IE to Linux and made .debs available to
the public, should the .debs be in the archives(assuming they'd allow
that)? It'd be nice.

Should Microsoft be a Debian developer? I don't think they'd pass the
interview. :)

-Mark

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