wanted: sponsor for texi2html

[Peter Moulder <reiter@netspace.net.au>]

Version ~1.56 of texi2html is currently available in Debian as part of
the tetex-bin package.  I think this is because the texinfo package
used to be part of the tetex-* packages as well.  However, there's no
connection between texi2html and [the rest of] tetex, either in
upstream maintainership or at runtime in terms of Depends or
Recommends.  Which is why I'm suggesting splitting off texi2html just
as texinfo has been.  (More commentary given at end of this message.)
Btw, I've already put this to the tetex maintainers, with no objection.


texi2html is a simple package: one script, one man page, and some
/usr/{share/,}doc documentation.  The source is autoconf/automake
based (since v1.60).  Lintian clean [*1].

Package: texi2html
Status: install ok installed
Priority: optional
Section: text
Installed-Size: 160
Maintainer: Peter Moulder <pjm@bofh.asn.au>
Version: 1.62.1-0.1
Replaces: tetex-bin
Depends: perl5
Description: Convert texinfo files to HTML
 texi2html is a Perl script that converts GNU's Texinfo files to HTML.
 .
 The program takes Texinfo files (and not info ones) and produces a
 set of HTML files. The quality of the output is close to the printed
 output and is much better than an info->HTML gateway.
 .
 Compared to the output of `makeinfo --html', texi2html's output is
 more customizable and (subjectively) produces better output by default.


To get the source, add the following line to /etc/apt/sources.list, do
`apt-get update', then `apt-get source -d texi2html':

  deb-src http://e2compr.memalpha.cx/e2compr/ftp/apt source/

pjm.


[*1] More precisely: no errors,
and one unwarranted perl-script-uses-unknown-module warning on
"require <CONFIG-FILE> if (<generally-false expression> && -r <CONFIG-FILE>)".


Advantages of creating new texi2html package separate from tetex package:

 - Users can get texi2html without getting the whole of tetex-bin;
   and can get tetex-bin without having to get texi2html.

 - texi2html package can go in binary-all.

 - Updates to texi2html needn't cause the whole of tetex to be
   re-uploaded / mirrorred / downloaded; or conversely needn't wait
   for the rest of tetex to be re-uploaded (etc.).

 - One less bit of software for the Debian tetex maintainers to worry
   about.  (tetex is big enough as it is.)

Disadvantage of removing texi2html from tetex package:

 - Dpkg doesn't currently have good support for showing that 
   package B (here texi2html) has been split off from package A (here
   tetex-bin): people upgrading package A don't get asked whether they
   want to install package B now that it's no longer included in
   package A.  The usual way of handling this is for newer A packages
   to Suggest B (and possibly mention in the Description field that B
   is no longer included), and that B Replaces: the older versions of A.