Linux dpkg Software Report

[Ray Parrish]

Werner Schram wrote:
> Tim Frost wrote:
>   
>> On Tue, 2009-12-22 at 21:25 -0800, Ray Parrish wrote:
>>   
>>     
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> I hope I won't get flamed for this, but I have just completed my most 
>>> ambitious script to date, and have completed the Linux dpkg Software 
>>> Report script which takes output from dpkg, and formats it into html 
>>> pages sorted by package section, such as Games, Editors, etc... and also 
>>> generates an alphabetical index to the packages.
>>>     
>>>       
>> Nice effort.
>>
>>
>> One issue with the script as written is that it MUST be invoked with an
>> absolute path name (i.e,
>> "/home/tim/bin/SoftwareReport/LinuxdpkgSoftwareReport.sh", rather than
>> "LinuxdpkgSoftwareReport.sh" or
>> "./bin/SoftwareReport/LinuxdpkgSoftwareReport.sh" - which I tried
>> first).  This is used to:
>> - locate support scripts
>> - determine where to write the output files
>>
>> Ideally, the program should be able to locate itself, and then derive
>> the location of the support scripts, based on its location.
>>
>> It should also use the user's preferred temp directory (or /tmp
>> or /var/tmp), rather than writing files to a directory under it's
>> install location.
>>
>> This allows an admin to install the scripts in a system directory such
>> as /usr/bin, without needing to compromise system security.
>>
>> I will see what I can do about these issues, and feed the results back. 
>>   
>>     
> I personally don't like the script writing in its own directory (it is a 
> bit of a windows way of doing things). You could let the script accept a 
> path to where you want the output to be, so you could call it like:
> LinuxdpkgSoftwareReport.sh /home/werner/myLDSRoutput
>   
I'm working on learning how to set the script up to install in 
/usr/local/bin with output going to a config file specified folder in 
the user's /home folder structure. I'm assuming I can create a hidden 
folder in the user's home folder structure for the configuration file to 
reside in.
> You should add a version number. That makes it easier for people to see 
> if they are using the newest versions, and it helps when someone is 
> reporting problems.
>   
Version numbers added, and incremented twice already. Look for the new 
version which has some tighter code, and a new feature called the 
Program Library Index which breaks down the impossibly long "L" 
alphabetical page into separate liba.html through libz.html files with 
their own index page. I did this because on my system there are 
approximately 800 packages beginnng with the string "lib" which made the 
"L" index page impossibly long to scroll through.
> You didn't include a licence with your script. It might be intentional, 
> but even if you don't really care what people do with your script, you 
> can still include the 2-clause or 3-clause BSD licence that says: 'hey, 
> you can do with the script what you want, but at least tell people that 
> you got it from me'. You can find information about premade licences here:
> http://www.opensource.org/licenses/
>   
Thanks for telling me where to find the licenses. I have now added copy 
write, and license information to the scripts.

Sorry I didn't get back to this thread in a very timely manner, it has 
been pretty hectic around here lately.

Later, Ray Parrish
> Werner
>
>   


-- 
The Future of Technology.
http://www.rayslinks.com/The%20Future%20of%20Technology.html
Ray's Links, a variety of links to usefull things, and articles by Ray.
http://www.rayslinks.com
Writings of "The" Schizophrenic, what it's like to be a schizo, and other
things, including my poetry.
http://www.writingsoftheschizophrenic.com