meta packages for ubuntu-desktop

[Lex]

I'll begin my saying I don't know a great deal about debian packaging,
so point out if I'm way off the mark anywhere.

On Wed, 2004-12-22 at 18:53 -0800, Matt Zimmerman wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 20, 2004 at 03:46:20PM +1100, Lex Hider wrote:
> > 
> > I'd like to suggest that instead of ubuntu-desktop depending on ~100
> > packs, it depends on a couple of meta packages to ease both
> > maintainership and installing. We don't have to go overboard with this,
> > but a couple of these I think would be a good idea.
> 
> The original idea of these packages was to represent the seeds, and thereby
> ease upgrading when the seeds change.  I'm a bit wary of creating a tree of
> metapackages as a means of high-level package selection; this was found to
> be suboptimal in Debian in the past.
> 
My idea was too represent the seeds better, not create anything new. The
seeds all seem to be broken into sub-sections [the various headings] and
my idea was to have packages that represent these.

e.g. stuff under the python heading in desktop seed goes into
ubuntu-desktop-python and stuff under gnome heading goes into
ubuntu-desktop-gnome. ubuntu-desktop would depend on these packages.

I was also thinking this may simplify the ubuntu-desktop along similar
lines of the principle that a function should be small and simple and do
one thing, and that depending on ~15 packages may make things easier
than depending on ~100.

I do have to plead ignorance to the various issues, can you give a few
more details to "found to be suboptimal in Debian in the past".


> Maybe we should take a step back, describe the use case, and consider
> alternative technical solutions to satisfy it.  Can you elaborate?
> 
As far as a use case, think of someone who wants ubuntu-desktop without
various parts.

e.g. I don't need OOffice and I don't have a printer. For the printer I
have to rip out foomatic-*, cups*. Alternatively, someone may not want
all the python stuff, but currently have to get rid of a large number of
packages instead of a single ubuntu-desktop-python.

Or think of installing fairly minimal set and installing bits as you
want them.

e.g. Install ubuntu-desktop-gnome gives me a gnome desktop. I decide I
want to use a printer, install ubuntu-desktop-print which would have
foomatic-* and cups*.

But as I said, my idea wasn't to go overboard with this, I was thinking
of 2 or 3 meta packages under ubuntu-desktop.
> -- 
>  - mdz
>