slocate in the default desktop install

[Emmet Hikory]

On Feb 11, 2008 8:15 PM, Matt Zimmerman wrote:
> Since very early on, we've shipped slocate as a part of the default desktop
> install in Ubuntu.  This provides an indexed list of filenames on the system
> to assist in searching for a file by name.  I'm not sure whether any of the
> standard desktop applications made use of it, or whether it was only useful
> on the command line.
>
> Today, at least, it doesn't seem to be used, and more featureful indexed
> searching is provided by tracker, and the overhead of re-indexing daily can
> be inconvenient for laptop users.
>
> Should we still ship slocate on desktops?

    Having some locate implementation available is rather desirable.
If there are sufficient use cases where the software being installed
is less useful than not being installed, it may make sense to not
install it by default for the desktop installation.  On the other
hand, given that locate is a popular tool for long-time users, perhaps
including it on the installation media (but not installed by default)
might be a reasonable compromise?  Those who wish to use locate in
preference to tracker would have the option of installing without any
requirement for network access, but those who find the installation of
locate troublesome would not have it installed.

    As long as the command-not-found tool is installed by default, it
ought to be able to suggest the correct package to install for a user
using locate for the first time.  Installation should then update the
database so that locate works.

-- 
Emmet HIKORY