[Bug 1036433] Re: Packaging system no longer meets users needs

[doclist]

Re-assigning with dpkg/apt although I think the problem is really a
system issue.

** Package changed: apport (Ubuntu) => dpkg (Ubuntu)

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1036433

Title:
  Packaging system no longer meets users needs

Status in “dpkg” package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  dpkg/apt-get are becoming ineffective at meeting users and developers
  needs for package management.

  An increasing number of important software has been abandoned from the
  repos because of rapid development cycles and the difficulty of
  creating packages (e.g. ruby and ruby gems, sagemath). The current
  recommendation is to install this software separately and therefore
  forgo the essential benefits of using a package manager.

  In addition much more software is being installed directly from source
  control (i.e. github), often for new, small programs, sometimes
  undergoing rapid development. Creating a package (even with
  checkinstall) and using uupdate is far too difficult to do something
  so trivial.

  Despite other shortcomings other package managers are more flexible in their ability to handle building new versions of software and with less package-development overhead. pacman and emerge are two examples of package managers that
  1. can much more easily build software from source control, even using HEAD if desired.
  2. are far easier to write packages for (and therefore it is more likely for packages to be written and kept current even for high velocity software).
  3. are far easier to create custom-patched software (I know that developers often have to run modified software with patches that have not yet or will not be incorporated upstream).

  Note that sagemath is available via the package manager in arch but
  not in Ubuntu.

  The point isn't that these other package managers are better overall
  but only that they handle an increasingly important use case far
  better than does dpkg/apt, although it is clear there is room for
  improvement.

  It is also understood that installing bleeding edge, rapidly changing
  or otherwise unstable software should not be done indiscriminately.
  However, users and especially developers normally want to do this in
  select cases and apt makes it very difficult.

  Ubuntu/Debian need to come up with a plan to create a more flexible
  package manager that accommodates the changes in the way software is
  being installed today.

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