Re: length of a package extended description
> This is *not* what I asked. I've complained on the long description
> only. The other fields like "Depends:" are still needed, without
> having them to be truncated by "less".
>
> This shows that any attempt to write a wrapper will fail at some
> point, and the real solution would be either to limit the length
> of the extended description or to have an option in the tools to
> limit the length of the output of the extended description.
I realise that long package descriptions can be inconvenient. ~2000
lines is kind of ridiculous. However, is it really worth a discussion
which has gone on this long?
Even if a policy decision isn't made, you could:
* File a lintian wishlist bug with the "pedantic" severity about
extended descriptions over a certain length. This would convince many
packagers to reduce the length of their description, even if not enforced.
* Write a patch for apt or dpkg that allows the user to decide whether
to limit the length of the output. I see no reason why it wouldn't be
accepted.
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