Re: Bug#624618: apt: Maybe time to modernize APT package description
# get right of the maybe
retitle 624618 time to modernize APT package description
merge 624618 458029
thanks
On Sat, Apr 30, 2011 at 11:17, Justin B Rye <jbr@edlug.org.uk> wrote:
> On Sat, Apr 30, 2011 at 09:10, Christian Perrier <bubulle@debian.org> wrote:
>> While updating the French translation of the apt package description,
>> I just had a good laugh..:-)
:)
Just to get us started:
Last "change" to this text was on 1998-12-22.
[Justin B Rye's proposal]
> Package: apt
> Description: Debian's advanced package tool
> This package provides command-line utilities for package management,
> including apt-get, used for finding and fetching software upgrades,
> and apt-cache, used for interrogating the package database. It depends
> on dpkg as its back-end for installs, and can be used either directly
> or via high-level interfaces such as aptitude.
The package apt provides more than just apt-get and apt-cache -
even through these are arguable the most prominent.
That it depends on dpkg already says the Depends: and wouldn't be
really a useful information for me as is i guess and while it indeed
provides a high-level interface i wouldn't pick one out of the endless
possibilities as the preferences for one or the other varies between
users and even between upgrade-instructions especially as a decent
front-end can use the Suggests line, which mentions a few, a lot better
than free form text to show other options.
More in-deep, apt-get isn't usually used to find packages, but to manage
them which is distinct from just "fetching software upgrades" which
could describe unattended-upgrades. It does even a bit more with
subcommands like source, but that is possibly to much of detail…
And kind of more personal: APT is not shouting but 'apt' is a normal word
and a package name while 'APT' is a name for our large family of tools
ranging from apt-get to software-center.
(A lot of) backronyms are available - yours is one of more popular.
Anyway, i don't feel like including APT or one of the expansions in
the description as it would have no meaning.
So, while i know quite good what i don't want to read in it, i have no real
idea what should be in so the best i came up with so far is the following
what isn't exactly at my liking either…
(so, we can have now another laugh together - especially the folks
from d-10n-english as i always thought i should ask for review there
and not for suggestions of complete descriptions, but okay…)
apt: package manager interface
This package provides the common ground for searching and
managing packages as well as information about packages
other package managers can be depend upon.
.
This includes:
- retrieval of information about packages
- retrieval of packages and all dependent packages
needed to satisfy a request
- authenticating the sources and validating the retrieved data
- installation and removal of packages in the system
.
It also provides various terminal-based tools on its own:
- apt-get for managing packages and retrieval of information
- apt-cache for querying available information
- apt-cdrom to use removable media as a source for packages
- apt-config as an interface to the configuration settings
- apt-key as an interface to manage authentication keys
Best regards
David Kalnischkies, who runs away to hide from the obvious tl;dr
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