Package: crossfire-client
Version: 1.9.1-1
Severity: minor
Tags: patch
The last line of the package description claims:
This package contains no binaries.
But this is a lie - in fact it contains more or less nothing *but*
an ELF 32-bit LSB executable binary file, /usr/games/cfsndserv
(plus some paperwork).
What you mean, presumably, is that this package doesn't provide a
crossfire-client. If the package description said that, it would
be accurate... but it would inevitably prompt the question: why is
the package called crossfire-client?
If I want to install the game, the first thing I'll look for is a
(meta-?)package called crossfire. That's not present, so the next
step is to read the package description for crossfire-client (that
being the one at the top of my package-browser's alphabetically
sorted list). Aha: "This program can operate stand alone if you
have access to a remote server". So if I run:
aptitude install --with-recommends crossfire-{client,server}
shouldn't I be entitled to expect that I'll *get* a client and
server? Even if crossfire-client doesn't directly contain a client
binary, surely its dependencies will?
But no, that commandline only gives me
crossfire-client crossfire-client-images crossfire-client-sounds
crossfire-common crossfire-maps crossfire-server rplay-client
...in other words, a server, some data, and no client. To actually
play the game, I have to find one of the crossfire-client-GUIs, and
nothing else so much as Suggests any of those (or mentions it in its
description) - I can only hope to notice them by accident in the
package-lists.
The obvious fix would be to add an OR-ing Recommends: (or Depends:),
and to amend the last two paragraphs of the description - example
patch attached.
-- System Information:
Debian Release: 4.0
APT prefers testing
APT policy: (500, 'testing')
Architecture: i386 (i586)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash
Kernel: Linux 2.6.18.hurakan
Locale: LANG=en_GB, LC_CTYPE=en_GB (charmap=ISO-8859-1)
Versions of packages crossfire-client depends on:
ii libc6 2.3.6.ds1-8 GNU C Library: Shared libraries
ii libpng12-0 1.2.13-4 PNG library - runtime
ii zlib1g 1:1.2.3-13 compression library - runtime
Versions of packages crossfire-client recommends:
ii crossfire-client-images 1.9.1-1 Base crossfire-client images
ii crossfire-client-sounds 1.9.1-1 sound files for playing crossfire
ii rplay-client 3.3.2-11 The basic rplay clients
-- no debconf information
--
JBR
Ankh kak! (Ancient Egyptian blessing)
--- control.orig 2006-12-15 13:33:16.000000000 +0000
+++ control 2006-12-15 13:39:31.000000000 +0000
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
Architecture: any
Depends: ${shlibs:Depends}, ${misc:Depends}
Suggests: crossfire-server, crossfire-doc
-Recommends: crossfire-client-sounds, crossfire-client-images, rplay-client
+Recommends: crossfire-client-sounds, crossfire-client-images, rplay-client, crossfire-client-X11 | crossfire-client-gtk | crossfire-client-gtk2
Description: Base Client of the game Crossfire
Crossfire is "a multiplayer graphical arcade and adventure game made for
the X environment.
@@ -21,10 +21,9 @@
and using items and battle monsters. They can choose to cooperate
or compete in the same 'world'."
.
- This program can operate stand alone if you have access to a remote server.
- Playing with sounds will require rplay, also.
- .
- This package contains no binaries.
+ To play the game you'll need to make sure you install one of the client
+ GUI front-ends, and have access to a local or remote server. Playing
+ with sounds will require rplay, also.
.
Homepage: http://crossfire.real-time.com/
