On 12-Aug-02, 15:55 (CDT), Adam Heath <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> So use virtual packages, which other packages provide, and which this new
> package depends on.
>
Then the user is back to having to figure out which one actually works
with the rest of the software. If you do this (virtual packages) for all
the components, then there's no point to it at all.
Saying that Debian doesn't make choices for the user is bullshit. We do
it all the time: the contents of the base packages, the task packages.
Making choices and value judgements is a good thing. Having 30 irc
clients is good for the expert user with particular preferernces, but
it's horrible for the beginner who has no idea which one is suitable.
When it's something like JDK, built out of disparate components, I
*want* a (presumed) "expert" to put them together and say "hey, this
combo works for me." After some experience, I might decided that (e.g.)
sable is not the JVM I want to use, and I'll replace it. It's no big
deal. But nobody is being forced, or censored, or any other of the bad
words that are thown about any time someone makes a decision around
here.
Just for the hell of it, I'll claim that making all the dependencies in
jdk-free virtual is a violation of the Social Contract, as it puts an
undue burden on the users. That seems to settle most discussions.
Steve
--
Steve Greenland
The irony is that Bill Gates claims to be making a stable operating
system and Linus Torvalds claims to be trying to take over the
world. -- seen on the net
