Re: releasenotes

[Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>]

Justin B Rye <jbr@edlug.org.uk> writes:

>  * 2.1.2 "Package management"
>    This bit's badly messed up:
>
>      The preferred program for interactive package management from a
>      terminal is aptitude. For a non-interactive command line interface
>      for package management, it is recommended to use apt-get. apt-get
>      is also the preferred tool for upgrades between major releases.
>
>    "Interactive" is a genuinely confusing misnomer; it turns out that
>    it means "full-screen Text User Interface" versus "Command Line
>    Interface", but what can it mean to recommend the *only* program
>    with such a TUI as the *preferred* one?

I don't think “interactive” is as confusing as you infer. It covers
programs like ‘aptitude’, ‘synaptic’, and other programs which interact
with the user continually while they run. This excludes ‘apt-get’, which
runs in what might be called “batch mode”.

So, ‘aptitude’ is one of several interactive package management tools.

>    Besides, on what grounds are the release notes telling me not to
>    use aptitude's CLI for routine package management on Squeeze?  How
>    else am I going to perform an "aptitude purge ~c"?

That's less a problem of language and more one of the reasoning behind
the decisions. I tend to agree with you that ‘aptitude’ is preferred for
most non-interactive package management, also.

What is the reasoning for recommending ‘apt-get’? I don't know.

>    I'm hoping this text can be rephrased as follows:
>
>      For users familiar with aptitude's full-screen mode, this is
>      the preferred interface for normal package management. However,
>      the recommended command line tool for the Lenny to Squeeze
>      upgrade is apt-get.

s/full-screen mode/interactive mode/ and I'd find that a good
rephrasing. Full-screen would be “occupies the full screen”, like a
movie player can do. Aptitude merely occupies the full terminal window.

>    That's visual as opposed to reading the screen via sonar, right?
>    We should standardise on a single comprehensible name for this:
>
>      To perform this review, launch aptitude in full-screen mode and
>      press g ("Go").

I think “interactive mode” is the correct name for this mode, as
discussed above.

-- 
 \           “I am as agnostic about God as I am about fairies and the |
  `\           Flying Spaghetti Monster.” —Richard Dawkins, 2006-10-13 |
_o__)                                                                  |
Ben Finney