Re: Links from other sites
On Sat, 11 Mar 2000, James A. Treacy wrote:
> On Sat, Mar 11, 2000 at 04:15:32AM -0700, Bruce Sass wrote:
> > Hello Jay,
> I'm not the only webmaster, but I'll answer :)
Oh, you are the only one that has ever replied to me.
I guess I either caught the others sleeping or you are the only one
willing to put up with me. :)
> > Snooping around the Python site I came across
> > www.python.org/download/download_linux.html, and thought it would be
> > nice to have a link to the python package pages.
> >
> > I soon realized that it would be a maintenance headache for a webmaster
> > to keep up with the releases and package name changes, which led to two
> > questions:
> >
> > Does Debian have a policy about getting linked to?
> >
> Yes. It's whatever I like. :)
> Actually, we add links to things that would be of general interest to a
> Debian user (especially newbies) and stable (in the sense that the link
> will not disappear). <...>
Hmmm, I was asking about the reverse, but was motivated by your last
point... Are there stable locations on the Debian website that people
can link to, and are the URL's published anywhere?
> > What would it take to implement a (uhm) virtual or task package tree?
> >
> They can be generated reasonably easily from the Packages file.
> This is information that is be available on the local machine.
> ('apt-cache search task-' accomplishes the second task). The
> list of virtual packages could easily be printed by apt-cache, but
> for what purpose? The list, by itself, is of little use. People
> only need information about virtual packages when they are looking
> for a list of packages to satisfy a dependency. apt-cache already
> does that using 'apt-cache depends <package_name>'. As already
> stated, we need a better front end for apt(*).
"Virtual" was a poor choice of wording on my part (I forgot that there
are "virtual packages").
What I'm thinking of is more of a service for the webmasters of software
packages that have their own website, so that they have a stable URL
into the Debian site that provides info relevant to their users.
Of course it makes Debian look good, having all the info readily
available in one location.
In the case of Python: The task-python-bundle.html page pretty much
does that (by providing a list of all python packages, a blurb about
each, and links to the packages themselves). Unfortunately, there is
the possibility that the task-python-bundle package will disappear
without notice, and there are probably Python related packages that do
not appear in the bundle. Now, if there was a ..../python.html page,
the www.python.org webmasters could link to it and not worry about
Debian package names changing on them; it would also provide a place for
developers to place links to backports(?) of packages (e.g., slink has
python 1.5.1, potato has 1.5.2, but there are 1.5.2 slink packages at
.../~flight/python/, which on one knows about unless they just happened
to be on the right mailing list at the right time and noticed the
announcement).
I realize that most of the info I have in mind could be extracted from
the Packages file(s), even to the extent of extracting the names of
packages that depend on the base software, rather than just the base
software packages themselves. Additionally, there should be an overview
blurb that familiarizes users with the packages (why it is packaged
up the way it is), tricks and tips specific to the Debianized software,
differences between the original distribution and the Debian
distribution (libs used, etc.), and both minimum and recommended
system requirements (memory, speed, HDD space).
Another concern would be the actual program used to generate these
pages... what language would be best, how modular should/could it be,
is there existing code that can be reused, etc.
> Sorry for the long winded answer. As with most developers, I have a lot
> of opinions on the way things should be done. :) Also, this may
> prompt discussion on debian-www about improvements to the site.
Ya, users are also interested in that stuff. :)
> (*)I haven't forgotten the front ends being worked on. It's just that
> they aren't finished yet.
Hmmm, I wonder how difficult it would be to have a special mime-type
that tells a Debian system to download and install stuff. e.g., a
software.apt file and application/x-apt-directive mime-type that would
result in "apt-get install ..." being run when the *.apt file was
selected. Or is something like that already in the works?
later,
Bruce
p.s. - please CC me since I am not on the mailing list.
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