Re: Debian Light Desktop - meta package

[Linas Žvirblis <0x0007@gmail.com>]

Christian Perrier wrote:

> Well, I haven't followed the rest of the thread (the part where people
> wonder which package could pertain to a "Light desktop" task) but I've
> seen Joey suggest himself to turn it into a task.

So have I. But I am against it nevertheless.

Do not get me wrong. I am not against the idea in general, nor am I
against what André Luiz Rodrigues Ferreira is doing. I simply do not
think that this is the right way to do it. A CDD is fine, a meta package
is fine, but a task is not.

> So, if Joey himself, who is actually quite conservative when it comes
> at new tasks for tasksel, mentions that he thinks that a "light desktop"
> task is worth it, I tend to give him the needed credit.

I respect him and his work, and that is why I feel that it is important
to explain my reasons for being against it.

-- The Reasons --

Firstly, the number of people behind this. Both KDE and GNOME desktop
environments have come a long way of evolution during which they have
been thoroughly tested by a huge number of users and developers. We know
it (the idea behind each of them) works. We know their goals. We can
predict their future.

There are also Debian KDE and GNOME teams that present the product in a
highest quality possible.

Now this "Light Desktop" - something totally untested, composed of
entirely separate pieces of software that might or might not work well
together. Will we ever be able to do half as much testing in Debian, as
it was done for KDE/GNOME? Is it even ethical to use Debian users as
testing grounds for this?

Secondly, I do not consider this fair with other projects. I quickly
searched trough Debian websites and found at least a couple of projects
aiming to provide a certain desktop environment. Their goals may be
different, but does that mean that they are worse?

-- A Yet Another Alternative --

If we really need a lightweight desktop environment, why not give people
a lightweight version of what they already know?

Note that this is based entirely on my imagination, not what tasksel
actually does:

  1. I do not know (automatic)         - kde-core, gnome-core
  2. Basic GNOME desktop environment   - gnome-core
  3. Full GNOME desktop environment    - gnome
  4. Basic KDE desktop environment     - kde-core
  5. Full KDE desktop environment      - kde

Five options - a lot, I know. They should probably not appear on main
tasksel window, but rather as another step if you chose "desktop"
previously.

Regards,
Linas