Review of WNPP for things to package/being packaged
I started last week looking again at what could be packaged
that is suitable for children. I think what is currently in
Debian Jr. (i.e. is installed when you select the "Debian Jr."
task in tasksel) is a good start, but there is much, much more
out there.
I thought the logical place to start would be the RFPs (Requests
For Packages) in the WNPP (Work Needed and Prospective Packages)
Visit "Requested Packages" at http://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp
to see this list. But what I found was that there was very little
there that looked promising.
Well, it may be, then, that there are some gems among the "Packages
being worked on", i.e. packages for which someone has an ITP (Intent to
Package). But perusing that list shows that many of these have been
a very long time in preparation. (What is it they say? "The road
to hell is paved with good intentions"? :)
So, here is a summary of what looks good, just from the
descriptions. Some of these may have license issues, or
may simply not be suitable for children. I didn't have time
for an in-depth analysis. I'm asking members of the list to
help me review these and especially with the ones that have
taken a long time (3 months or more) contact the person who
submitted the ITP to see how it is going. I would like to know
about each package:
- is this something that should go into Debian Jr.?
- is there anything packaged to date that we can try?
- is there any way in which we can help? (e.g. taking over
an abandoned ITP, sponsoring a package that has been
made by someone still in the NM process, etc.)
#107710 Atris: A tetris like game, 123 days in preparation.
#107703 Atris: A tetris like game, 123 days in preparation.
#114631 bubblefishymon: A load meter for Window Maker that
features a duck and fish, 62 days in preparation.
#117512 cuyo: Tetris-like game with many suprises, 39 days in
preparation.
#120070 cuyo: Tetris-like game with very impressive effects, 19 days in
preparation.
#81708 flash: GPL Flash Library, 332 days in preparation.
#97491 gmonsters: game where you train, breed, and battle monsters, 207
days in preparation.
#101246 hoverball and hoverware, 172 days in preparation.
#119019 kdeedu: education module for KDE, 27 days in preparation.
#101124 light: Lightweight gecko-based web browser, 174 days in
preparation.
#112272 phorus: Zone66 clone: fly a plane in an overhead-2d world and
blow things up., 84 days in preparation.
#100876 spacearyarya: a 2d/3d platform-style game, 176 days in
preparation.
#108284 tempest: a program that uses your computer monitor to send out
AM radio signals, 119 days in preparation.
#99793 tetris-queen: A Tetris-like game, 187 days in preparation.
#122839 tetris: a clone of the original tetris, in preparation since
today.
#91883 xscrabble: X version of the popular board game, for 1 to 4
players, 255 days in preparation.
I might have missed some in my review. Some really old ITPs (say,
over 1000 days) I did not consider worthwhile chasing down, as I
take this as a sign that it is too hard to package or not worth
packaging (or maybe not even available for download anymore).
Ben
p.s. I just packaged xletters, which I will add to junior-typing.
p.p.s. Beyond the WNPP, I'm sure there's still plenty of stuff
at the linuxforkids site: http://www.linuxforkids.com/
if someone would like to do a review of these and
submit either RFPs or ITPs for them and/or summarize
them here like I have done for the current RFP list.
--
nSLUG http://www.nslug.ns.ca synrg@sanctuary.nslug.ns.ca
Debian http://www.debian.org synrg@debian.org
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