sysinfo

[Carl Karsten]

 >>but i'd also like to point you to the device manager, since
 >>this tool just duplicates the contents of this app...everything sysinfo
 >>shows is already in the default device manager ;)
 >
 >
 > This is an interesting point. Where do we draw the line in what we
 > package? Debian takes the approach of trying to package everything
 > regardless of whether the application is a duplicate of another.
 > Should we at ubuntu only package so-called duplicate applications
 > based on their popularity?
 >

Application X is a duplicate of Y, Y has been packaged.

Cost of packaging X:
Review, package, commit to repository, repository is bigger forever, bug 
reports will be submitted forever. (so time now, and maybe time later)

Return:
Redundancy (if application Y stops being maintained, X is already in place.)
Happy users that would rather use X than Y.  some users have spent some 
time learning X and don't want to loose that investment.  More users of 
the distribution (happy user plus happy users referrals), so more 
feedback on the whole distro, so a more stable distribution.

Cost of not packaging X:
Time spent explaing that Y can be used, explaining why this choice was 
made, helping user learn Y.

Return:
More stable distribution (the fewer pices, the easier it is to get 
everything working together.)

If meaningful numbers can be assigned to these items, then we can see 
which is better.  Otherwise ask the squeegee board.

Carl K