New 'Meta-Package' tag for the control file
Martin Bialasinski proposes:
> I am working on converting the tasks and profiles from the base
> installation into ordinary packages.
I've always wanted this, thanks for the investment :)
> This will make the thing easier to manage, and offer these packages
> also for later installation.
Indeed - and focus the selection development on structured installation
with apt.
> One problem is, that if such a task package is installed, one can't
> easily override the selection or remove certain packages - one has to
> remove the task package first.
I see this "problem" as an advantage: the user should *know* that removing
a certain package means that his system no longer does the desired task.
So -- I disagree!
> [on Meta-Package: yes]
>...
> With this flag, descriptions like
>
> This package has NO files. It only depends on other packages. Once
> you install this, and all the packages it depends on, you can remove
> it, without loosing any functionality.
This also worries me -- in fact I believe that such a message is silly (in
fact I believe that we should keep implementation details out of the
package descriptions). It should simply say
This package ensures that your system has full support for <TASK>.
The reason is simple: someone might later want to add some little tiny
functionality that does not make sense without the task package. A good
example is an overview document or tutorial. The most natural thing is to
add this inside the metapackage (because with the metapackage you *know*
what to recommend, cross-reference, etc., and it is not obvious which of
the two depends on the other in case they must be separate). Then the
metapackage suddenly has files in it -- and the restriction becomes a
nuisance.
Some time ago I proposed an alternative which I still believe in:
Add a new section, "task", which contains packages that are intended to
group together functionalities from a user's point of view.
Configure apt to start up with just this section "open" initially on
installation.
That way we get full synergy :)
Best,
Kristoffer
--
Kristoffer Høgsbro Rose, phd, prof.associé <http://www.ens-lyon.fr/~krisrose>
addr. LIP, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 46 Allée d'Italie, F-69364 Lyon 7
phone +33(0)4 7272 8642, fax +33(0)4 7272 8080 <Kristoffer.Rose@ENS-Lyon.FR>
pgp f-p: A4D3 5BD7 3EC5 7CA2 924E D21D 126B B8E0 <krisrose@{debian,tug}.org>
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