Public bug reported:
Binary package hint: eclipse
I am using Ubuntu 9.10, and have package 'eclipse' version
'3.5.1+repack~1-0ubuntu3'. The problem I had with Eclipse is that I
could not install plugins, and I think my experience shows there are
some user-interface issues with Eclipse, and some package-description
issues with Ubuntu's (and Debian's?) Eclipse packages.
I started out by installing 'eclipse-jdt', because I wanted to do some
Java development. I didn't install the eclipse metapackage. Why not?
Because the metapackage includes the package 'eclipse-pde', whose
description reads like this:
"This package provides tools for easy development of plug-ins for
Eclipse."
Since I didn't plan on developing plugins for Eclipse, I figured I
didn't need it.
I then asked my favorite search engine whether there was a Git plugin
for Eclipse (there is, it's called EGit). However, when I tried to
install this plugin (via the "Help->Install New Software..." menu
command in Eclipse), I got a mysterious error:
"The artifact file for osgi.bundle,org.eclipse.pde,3.4.100.v20090527 was
not found."
The problem was that I did not have the 'eclipse-pde' package installed.
Once I installed this package, everything went smoothly. Note: each
time I tried to install the plugin, I started by deleting my
'~/.eclipse' folder; I wanted to make sure this wasn't due to some
configuration issue.
While my story has a happy ending, a quick search of the Web with the
error text "The artifact file for osgi.bundle,org.eclipse.pde was not
found" shows that I'm not the only one who has run into this problem.
The descriptions of the other Eclipse packages contribute to the
misunderstanding, as well. Here's the boilerplate description that all
Eclipse packages have:
"The Eclipse Platform is an open and extensible platform for anything
and yet nothing in particular. It provides a foundation for constructing
and running integrated software-development tools. The Eclipse Platform
allows tool builders to independently develop tools that integrate with
other people's tools so seamlessly you can't tell where one tool ends
and another starts."
And here is what the 'eclipse-platform' package adds to that:
"This package provides only the Eclipse Platform. It does not include
any development plug-ins. These are available in different packages:
* eclipse-jdt Java Development Tools
* eclipse-pde Plug-in Development Tools
* eclipse Complete development environment
This package is the base for all eclipse plug-ins."
Given these descriptions, I think it is not unreasonable for a user to
assume (as I did) that the 'eclipse-pde' package is only needed for
people who wanted to write their own Eclipse plugins.
Hope this helps.
--Josh
** Affects: eclipse (Ubuntu)
Importance: Undecided
Status: New
--
Eclipse error message and package descriptions are uninformative for users
trying to install plugins
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/539256
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