I think I generally agree with Eric. And as long as there aren't any upstream implications for the FlightGear project, there's really no reason why you can't split things up any way that makes sense.
If it were purely my decision, I'd split up the FlightGear project downloads into a number of addition separate pieces (rather than just base and (binaries or source.))
However, there is a constant tug from both direction. Those that want things split up into lots of smaller packages (for download efficiency) and then those that want the entire project rolled up into one single massive download (for download ease.) It seems like there is a significant portion of the population who won't (or can't) download more than one or two files per application before they give up. So as a project we've aimed for the middle (sort of) so neither side is entirely happy. :-)
But I think in the context of Linux distribution packaging splitting things up makes a lot of sense. I see this done with many packages. Sometimes I wonder if it's done a little over agressively, but with things like apt-get on Debian, it really doesn't hurt anything since the system will pull and install all the needed packages automatically.
Regards,
Curt.
Richard Keech wrote:
hi guys,
I'm new on the list so apologies in advance if any of this is covering old ground.
I prepared the RPM package of FG that's up on the FG site.
If Curt agrees it's wothwhile, then I'd like to
submit FlightGear as an official Fedora project package(*1).
This will broaden the visibility of and access to FlightGear by the Fedora Linux community. It will reduce the likelihood
of any package conflict and dependency problems. It will also enforce a worthwhile quality control discipline on the packaging.
As part of this, it occurs to me that FG would be better as a modular framework of packages, rather than one monolithic package.
I'd like peoples' impressions of this idea.
Current situation
As it stands, the RPM package file is 75MB. Installed, the package takes up about 187MB. The base package has about 50 aircraft, taking on average about 2MB each. It comes with a single default scenery set of about 5MB(?). It comes with about 10MB of documentation.
Proposal
I was thinking along the lines of having a package breakdown along the following lines.
flightgear-core
flightgear-locale-w130n30
flightgear-aircraft-p51d
flightgear-aircraft-747 <etc for all other aircraft>
flightgear-docs
flightgear-devel (for aircraft or scenery developers)
Obviously this breakdown into packages would not
necessarily have any upstream implications on Curt's
original pristine source arrangements.
The aims of such a package breakdown would be to:
* make it easier for users to get new locales and aircraft;
* make it easier for users to upgrade the core program without having the get the whole lot again;
* make it easier for developers to create and distribute new locales and aircraft;
* provide that people only get the bits they need;
* make all but the core package architecture
independant (simplifying arrangements for other Fedora architectures);
* make the elements separately upgradable (within obvious limits);
* provide a modular basis for downstream enhancements,
such as a GUI FlightGear Component Console (a point-and-
click tool to load or upgrade aircraft and locales, backended by a Yum or Apt repository).
A related aim would be to have common RPM arrangements
for all RPM Linux distros, using LSB principles where
possible. So if you're reading this and maintain
the package for {Connectiva,Mandrake,SuSE} please get in touch. It would be great if we could have a team
approach.
Comments sought.
*1. That's fedora.us, not fedora.redhat.com. There is no likelihood of FlightGear getting into the Fedora Core distribution.
*2. I am not doing this in any official Red Hat capacity.
regards
-- Curtis Olson Intelligent Vehicles Lab FlightGear Project Twin Cities [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Minnesota http://www.menet.umn.edu/~curt http://www.flightgear.org
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