Re: Reasons for recommends and suggests
On Fri, 18 May 2007, Kevin Mark wrote:
> As I mentioned, I dont think this information should be in every
> package and probably would be useful for more desktop-users than
> developers. I'd only suggest creating the infrastructure (presumably so
> that it doesn't break anything in dpkg and would only be shown in
> aptitude and synaptic) and then allow either the maintainer to add it or
> allow users to contribute to it.
It would probably be enough then to just have it available in
README.Debian and modify the p.d.o changelogs script to also extract
README.Debian when it exists; allowing aptitude/synaptic et al. to
show README.Debian like changelogs are shown now.
This would allow explanations of appropriate length about the packages
which are Recommends: and Suggests: (or anything else that people ask
about) as well as any additional information that users may want to
know about before installing.
Plus, you'd have the advantage of being able to do this now instead of
trying to jam more information into the control file which doesn't
strictly need to be there.
Don Armstrong
--
The attackers hadn't simply robbed the bank. They had carried off
everything portable, including the security cameras, the carpets, the
chairs, and the light and plumbing fixtures. The conspirators had
deliberately punished the bank, for reasons best known to themselves,
or to their unknown controllers. They had superglued doors and
shattered windows, severed power and communications cables, poured
stinking toxins into the wallspaces, and concreted all of the sinks
and drains. In eight minutes, sixty people had ruined the building so
thouroughly that it had to be condemed and later demolished.
-- Bruce Sterling, _Distraction_ p4
http://www.donarmstrong.com http://rzlab.ucr.edu
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