Changes to packages.wml [was Re: packages.debian.org has moved. Please update translations]
On Wed, Apr 04, 2001 at 10:00:57PM +0200, Josip Rodin wrote:
> On Wed, Apr 04, 2001 at 07:29:19PM +0100, Martin Michlmayr wrote:
> >
> > It is plain wrong because it suggests that stable is a moving target
> > (like testing) to which stuff is added once its stable.
>
> It suggests that only if you read into the words and start making
> assumptions about it. The packages in testing will eventually end up in
> stable once we decide they are stable, in essence that is still true.
>
> The main reason I'm complaining is that the user which visits that page does
> not need to know the intricate details of our developmental process. Trying
> to push all that (rather abstract) information to them might confuse and/or
> bore them.
>
> (Hey, there's something wrong with this picture -- I'm the one who is
> usually being accused of making the web pages not too user-friendly! ;)
>
I agree that the pages should be user friendly. Sometimes that means leaving
out details - which is different from having misleading info.
Simply because I don't want to miss out on the fun of being flamed, I have
included a diff with my suggested changes to the latest version in CVS (yes
Joey, this is a proper diff):
--- packages.wml.orig Wed Apr 4 16:25:15 2001
+++ packages.wml Wed Apr 4 16:25:34 2001
@@ -11,10 +11,9 @@
Software Guidelines</A>, assuring free use and redistribution of the
packages and their complete source code.
- <P>There are also some additions to the <EM>main</EM> distribution, that
- have certain restrictions not allowing them to be part of a 100% free
- software distribution like Debian GNU/Linux. Still, they are provided by
- Debian as a service to our users, and they include:
+ <P>As a service to our users, we provide packages in seperate sections that can not
+ be included in the <EM>main</EM> distribution due to a restrictive
+ license. They include:
<BLOCKQUOTE><DL>
<DT><EM>Contrib</EM></DT>
<DD>Packages in this area are free themselves but depend on other
@@ -38,9 +37,8 @@
<: if ( $frozen_release_exists ) { _:>
<DT><A HREF="http://packages.debian.org/frozen/";>View the packages in the
<STRONG>frozen</STRONG> distribution</A></DT>
- <DD>This is a temporary designation a release goes through when in
- the testing stage, just prior to being released as the new stable
- distribution.
+ <DD>This is a temporary designation a release goes through
+ just prior to being released as the new stable distribution.
<P>See the <a href="$(HOME)/releases/frozen/">frozen distribution pages</A>
for more information.
@@ -51,11 +49,9 @@
<DT><A HREF="http://packages.debian.org/testing/";>View the packages in the
<STRONG>testing</STRONG> distribution</A></DT>
- <DD>This area contains packages that are destined to become part of the
- next stable distribution. Packages that haven't been included from
- unstable (see below) have not been around long enough to make it
- into the testing distribution or depend on packages which are not
- part of this distribution yet.
+ <DD>This area contains packages that are intended to become part of next stable distribution.
+ There are strict criteria a package must obey before they can be
+ moved from unstable to testing.
<P>See the <a href="$(HOME)/releases/testing/">testing distribution pages</A>
for more information.
@@ -65,13 +61,12 @@
<DT><A HREF="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/";>View the packages in the
<STRONG>unstable</STRONG> distribution</A></DT>
- <DD>This area contains packages that are currently developed by
- Debian. All new packages and updates are uploaded to this
- distribution. Once a package stabilizes, doesn't have any more release
- critical bugs than the version in testing and its dependencies are fulfilled in testing, it is
- copied to the testing distribution. Packages in unstable are
- generally untested and could
- have severe bugs (some that might even cause damage to your system).</DD>
+ <DD>This area contains the most recent packages in Debian. Once a
+ package has met our criterion for stability and quality of packaging,
+ it will be included in testing.
+ <p>Packages in unstable are the least tested and may contain
+ problems severe enough to affect the stability of your system.
+ Only experienced users should consider using this distribution.
</DL>
--
James (Jay) Treacy
treacy@debian.org
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