On 2/7/08, Ivan Shmakov <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: SeaDAS is a very specialized package, but a decent installer would be a big help -- I encounter many potential users who gave up due to the difficulties they had installing SeaDAS (often because they didn't know how to install missing libraries or had old versions). Lack of a good installer also means many people end up trying to use very old versions due to concerns that updating may be too difficult.
SeaDAS is built using IDL and Intel Fortran, so few users will be able to build it from sources. This puts it outside the usual debian model -- more like the Java packages. Do you plan to include the IDL runtime version NASA provides? Are you going to rearrange the package according to debian rules or keep the NASA structure? Keeping up with all the updates will require a significant long term commitment. Many people may be reluctant to try debian packaging unless it is consistent with NASA updates so they aren't dependent on your ability to keep up. It would be very useful if you could just wrap the NASA binaries in a package that would handle dependencies, but still allow updating via NASA's scripts so people who need updates don't have to wait for new packages to be generated (not to mention the savings in download volume, although it is hard to see how people can do useful things with SeaDAS if they don't have good network connections!). > I'm interested in packaging SeaDAS [1] as a Debian package, and > since it relies on SDP Toolkit and the HDF-EOS libraries [2], > I'm interested in packaging these as well. > > I believe I've a decent experience in building both SDP Toolkit > and HDF-EOS and the only issue left unresolved is their legal > status. I'm now contacting developers in order to clarify it, > and I've got a preliminary reply that these qualify as free > software. (Actually, the HDF-EOS source is included in the GDAL > source package, which is in `main'.) Once the conditions will > be clarified I'll prepare the Debian packages. > > I'm therefore asking, whether there're any interest in having > such a specialized software packages in Debian, and could anyone > review and sponsor these packages for me (I'm not a DD) once > they'll be ready? > > [1] http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/seadas/ > [2] http://newsroom.gsfc.nasa.gov/sdptoolkit/toolkit.html > > > -- > To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -- George N. White III <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Head of St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia
