Package descriptions aren't just for installations
On Sat, Mar 16, 2002 at 08:23:56PM +0100, Petter Reinholdtsen wrote:
> Our distribution is supposed to install everything without questions,
> so there is no immediate need to translate the descriptions. The
> users are not supposed to see these descriptions during install. :-)
Nevertheless, Debian contains so much software that even if only a fraction
of it were installed at once, the users would still be faced with the
daunting task of deciding which several dozen of several hundred packages
interest them. Descriptions can be a helpful aid for both new and
experienced Debian users to navigate the system and make choices.
A question that has concerned Debian Jr. recently and thus far we have only
partially answered for is:
Now that I have Debian Jr, how do I know what is in it?
My partial answer is this:
http://people.debian.org/~synrg/list-junior.html
This is the output of the script I hacked together to put into junior-doc.
Unfortunately it has a few shortcomings for the end user (by whom I mean the
older person guiding the child to use the system):
1. It lists all versions of the package, not just the one installed
by the user.
2. It doesn't list them "at a glance".
3. It is dependent on a network connection to view the contents.
4. Once you locate the package, how do you know how to start the
programs contained in it? Some packages don't have the same
name as the binaries contained in them. The bsdgames package
comes to mind as an example. It contains several binaries.
These shortcomings notwithstanding, I think it is helpful for the new user
to be able to browse through the descriptions of the packages linked from
this index page to learn a bit about what is on their system and where to
start exploring.
Of course, it could be argued that the "package" is an abstraction that the
user doesn't need to know about at all unless they are doing an install, so
we would be better off pointing them at other documentation: apropos, man,
info. Here too we have some problems. Many man pages say little more than
"this is a program that does baz and here is how you invoke it". Either
that, or you have an overwhelmingly long list of switches. Man pages often
make a terrible introduction to a program when all you're trying to figure
out is if the program is one you might be interested in. Info pages tend to
be even more detailed, although at least they are organized hierarchically,
so you can just skim the introduction. But they tend not to be provided by
many packages, or if they are (unless the packages are from the GNU project)
they tend not to contain documentation significantly differnt from the man
pages.
Where am I going with this? Package descriptions provide the best tool we
have today to allow administrators and users alike to sort through the very
rich offerings of the Debian distribution to zero in on the material they
want to try out. If you think browsing package descriptions is an activity
best left to the administrator, think again. I think the more work we put
into the descriptions, the better we serve our end-user community. Give
them good descriptions, and good tools for exploring them, and they will be
more adventuresome and less overwhelmed than without.
Ben
--
nSLUG http://www.nslug.ns.ca synrg@sanctuary.nslug.ns.ca
Debian http://www.debian.org synrg@debian.org
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