Re: DEP-10: AppStream and Component Metadata for Debian

[Paul Wise <pabs@debian.org>]

On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 11:28 PM, Matthias Klumpp wrote:

> (please explicitly CC me with any replies, I am not subscribed to -project).
>
> I would like to claim DEP-11.  As per DEP-0, I'm supposed to drop a
> line here[1] with the Title and abstract:
>
>    Title: AppStream and Component Metadata for Debian
>    DEP: 11
>    URL: http://wiki.debian.org/AppStreamDebianProposal
>    Drivers: Matthias Klumpp <matthias@tenstral.net>,
>                Julian Andres Klode <jak@debian.org>,
>                Michael Vogt <mvo@debian.org>
>    Abstract:
>     Proposal for an additional file in Debian repositories containing
>     information about components packages provide as well as
>     all data required for the cross-distro application manager
>     project AppStream[1].

I would like to point out that some of this stuff is already placed in
the Packages files. For example gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg has the custom
Gstreamer-Decoders header containing a list of codecs this package
supports.

I would like to point out this project:

http://wiki.debian.org/UpstreamMetadata

And strongly suggest that you make your proposal much more general and
as such able to handle arbitrary upstream metadata, either manually
added to debian/control by the Debian package maintainer (like
UpstreamMetadata) or automatically added to debian/foo/DEBIAN/control
during the build process by automatic tools (presumably as in your
proposal).

I would also like to see the Packages files split up based on audience:

dpkg: package names and relationships
apt: package download information
all users: description, homepage etc
desktop users: freedesktop application info, fontconfig (languages
etc), gstreamer (codec information), mime types, usb ids, pci ids,
network protocols
...

-- 
bye,
pabs

http://wiki.debian.org/PaulWise