----- Forwarded message from Martin Quinson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -----
Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 10:17:31 +0200 (MET DST) From: Martin Quinson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Helix GNOME packages for Debian available for testing. (fwd) Sorry if it floods, but did you see this mail ? Bye, Mt. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: 18 May 2000 19:35:38 -0400 From: Nat Friedman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: gnome-announce-list@gnome.org Subject: Helix GNOME packages for Debian available for testing. Beta Release of Helix GNOME packages for Debian "Woody" PROSAIC ELUCIDATION Helix GNOME was created to make the world's only free desktop easily accessible to everyone. We released the first preview on March 6th, and included support for most of the major GNU/Linux distributions. Except Debian. And you -- the teeming masses of Debian users -- you would not let us forget it! You wrote to us from every corner of the world to implore us: add support for Debian! What's wrong with you schmucks? Have you forgotten us? Do you not love us? Your mails clogged our inboxes and weighed upon our hearts. And my dog choked to death on a hardcopy of one of them. We have heard your call and finally, we have answered. Helix GNOME packages for Debian are now ready for testing. This is a beta release of the Debian packages, and not an official, supported version. We have worked hard to support Debian as best we can, and now we need your help to get them battle-tested. At this point, packages are only built for the unstable (woody) distribution, on the i386 architecture. These packages may or may not work on frozen -- we would appreciate feedback if people want to try that. We will be expanding the extent of our Debian support in the near future to include the stable distribution and Corel Linux (based on the stable Debian release). A lot of work has gone into making sure that these packages conform to Debian Policy. We really want to do this right. In particular, we want all of our packages to be lintian clean. If you find a policy violation in a Helix GNOME package, it's a bug. Please report it, and it will be fixed, stat. Heh. "Stat" is such a funny word. INSTALLATION DIRECTIONS The Helix GNOME Debian packages can be installed through apt. Add the following line to /etc/apt/sources.list: deb http://spidermonkey.helixcode.com/distributions/debian unstable main We are providing two task- packages. task-helix-core provides the core functionality of Helix GNOME, and task-helix-gnome installs all the applications. If you don't want to use these, upgrading from a previously installed set of Debian GNOME packages should work fine. If you do that, take note that most of the panel applets have moved out to gnome-applets. You will probably want to install that if you have the panel installed. So once you add the above line to /etc/apt/sources.list you must run: apt-get update Once you have retrieved the updated package list you can install in one of two main ways. If you are a new GNOME user you can run: apt-get install task-helix-gnome If you are upgrading a current GNOME system you may want to run: apt-get dist-upgrade There is also an apt source archive: deb-src http://spidermonkey.helixcode.com/distributions/debian unstable main The release of Helix GNOME Preview 2 should include support for Debian in the Helix installer. TESTING AND REPORTING BUGS The purpose of this release is to make the Debian support as good as possible. We want our packages to be so perfect, they become pure energy and merge with the omniverse. We want these packages to be both transcendent and imminent. And we need your help. In particular, we'd like to know about any problems in the following: * The upgrade path from installations using the Debian GNOME packages. We have done some initial testing of this, but we're not sure that it works in all situations. So, weirdos running old versions, tell us how it works on your systems! * Fresh installations with the Helix GNOME packages. * Debian Policy violations. Of course, you should also report any bugs in the software that we're shipping. GNOME to the max, baby. Bugs can be reported at the Helix Code bug tracking system: http://bugs.helixcode.com/ Instructions can be found there for reporting problems. For those who already know how to use the Debian bug tracking system, ours is a fairly standard installation of Debbugs. The submission address is [EMAIL PROTECTED] Additionally, the bug-buddy tool can be used to report bugs, as described on the http://bugs.helixcode.com/ web page. CREDITS Thanks to the thousands of people who have made GNOME what it is today. Thanks also to the Debian team for building such a great distribution. The following people make up the Debian packaging team at Helix Code. A big round of applause for these sleepless simians. Peter Teichman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Helix GNOME Debian packaging leader. Checked and lintian'd and updated all the packages. Mike Whitson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Helix GNOME Debian packager. Responsible for taking the packages live. Arik Devens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The power behind the throne. Coordinated the release effort in the final week. Joe Shaw <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Author, Helix GNOME installer/updater. Built all the original packages. Jacob Berkman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Helix GNOME packaging lead. Rupert the monkey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Chief micturator. Moral support. POSTSCRIPT Helix Code is a free software company. Our raison d'etre is to deploy high-quality free software to billions of people. All our development is done in the open and we do everything we can to be a good, contributing member of the community. And we really believe in Debian. Nearly half the Helix Code staff are Debian users, and so we're strongly motivated to support Debian. Until recently, however, we haven't had the manpower to do it. So please accept our apology for the lateness of this release. And let us know if there's anything we can do to improve the state of our Debian support. _______________________________________________ gnome-announce-list mailing list gnome-announce-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnome-announce-list ----- End forwarded message ----- -- see shy jo