Someone suggested to use the same frontend the kernel source uses for configuration. Since I thought about that as well, I had a run at it.
I copied the menuconfig stuff from the kernel and changed some paths. Then i created a config.in and a Configure.help file for some dummy package. The result is at ftp://mirjam.informatik.uni-tuebingen.de/pub/linux/dpkg.tar.bz or ftp://mirjam.informatik.uni-tuebingen.de/pub/linux/dpkg/* as unpacked source files. It`s 35k in size. After unpacking it, cd to "dpkg" and do "make menuconfig". make config and make xconfig probably wont work, since the paths with be wrong. Now the stuff it implements: o Abstract interface for X, console and dumb terminal (well, xconfig and config don`t work yet, but thats a problem with paths) o Localisation. Configure.help can be translated easily, as it has been done for the kernel. o Question dependencies. Try to turn off "Is your computer connected to a netwok?". The suboptions will disapear. o Take the last answeres as defaults. What I will do in the enar future: o Levels of questions. o Suggest System defaults as well as last answeres o Better localisation o Some database interface to get default answeres o change parser, so that nearly original postinst files can be used. o Sample implementation of an interface coordinating the unpacking, questioning, configuring as multithreaded shell script. Well, updates will be comming. May the Source be with you. Goswin PS: How far is the database program?
