Bug#115480: ITP: Agenda VR tools -- sync and flash utilities for the Agenda

[Richard Braakman <dark@xs4all.nl>]

Package: wnpp
Severity: wishlist

I intend to package vrsync and vrflash.  They are utilities for use with
the Agenda VR, a handheld computer that runs Linux.  They communicate
with the device over a serial line.

vrsync synchronizes the information on the Agenda (such as contacts and
to-do lists) with databases on the local machine.  It can transfer
information either way, depending on what is requested.
URL: ftp://ftp.agendacomputing.com/agenda/utils/vrsync-0.49.tar.gz

vrflash communicates with the Agenda's boot monitor to install new
software on the device.  The kernel and the root image can be upgraded
this way. 
URL: ftp://ftp.agendacomputing.com/agenda/utils/vrflash-0.20.tar.gz

I also intend to package libflek, an fltk-based library that is used
by vrflash.
URL: http://flek.sourceforge.net/

vrsync and vrflash are distributed under the GPL.  libflek is distributed
under the LGPL.

I am not yet sure whether vrflash and vrsync should be packaged separately,
or combined into one package called agenda-vr-tools.  I would welcome advice
about that.  This is how I currently weigh the decision:

Separate packages:
  * Advantage: people can install one without the other.  (But note
    that wanting vrflash without vrsync is unusual.)
  * Disadvantage: the utilities are tiny (a few kilobytes each), so the
    packaging overhead would be large.

Single package:
  * Advantage: if more utilities are written they can be added without
    having to create more packages.  Users will get the extra utilities
    by just upgrading.
  * Disadvantage: building one binary package from two source archives
    is annoying.

Richard Braakman
(Guess which new toy I bought :-)