[Bug 647202] Re: Support for metapackages

[Matthew Paul Thomas]

** Changed in: software-center (Ubuntu)
       Status: Incomplete => New

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Title:
  Support for metapackages

Status in “software-center” package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  Binary package hint: software-center

  Package maintainers often create metapackages to make installation of
  groups of related packages easier for end-users. This is often the
  case when an application is split up into several smaller packages to
  provide more granularity, but a sensible default is desirable.

  The software center currently uses the presence of .desktop files (via
  app-install-data?) to decide which packages to show to users. This can
  in some circumstances be insufficient. Metapackages should also be
  shown.

  The example I was just made aware of is smuxi. The desktop file and
  binary are contained within a package (smuxi-frontend-gnome), which is
  offered up by software-center to users. Other functionality is
  provided by separate packages, however. While some of these are
  recommends of -gnome, not all are. Furthermore, the package provides a
  smuxi metapackage which is supposed to be the most common way of
  obtaining the packages as it provides the most complete user
  experience.

  software-center should detect and display metapackages in addition to
  the current .desktop file method. A metapackage can be detected by (a
  combination of) two heuristics: the word `metapackage' or `meta
  package' in the description, and the package only having files in
  /usr/share/doc. This is the approach taken by other tools in use, such
  as Lintian.

  Thanks,
  Iain

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