Hi,
Daniel Stiefelmaier wrote:
Take the USE flag "perl", for example. It has the description "Adds
support/bindings for the Perl language." but for mysql setting it
enables the installation of some support scripts that just happen to
be written in perl.
Since perl is a global use flag, this is inappropriate use. You might want to
file a bug :)
man emerge provides information on possible options, why should there
not be a way to get information on an ebuilds option???
because emerge is the tool, not the object. You wouldn't expect the openoffice
documentation to cover examples for different kinds of letters, would you?
The useflag "xprint" sounds like printing support, but doesn't tell if
you need it if you use cups or the kde-printing system or... whatever.
~ $ grep xprint /usr/portage/profiles/use.desc
xprint - Support for xprint, http://www.mozilla.org/projects/xprint/
what do you need more?
- There are many Gentoo-related HOWTOs, not linked on a projects homepage
You can easily find those through searching google
- Some ebuilds give homepages like "gnome.org" just for some little
gnome app that is not linked on gnome.org
Same here, googling usually helps
- There are not only howtos but other useful related pages
Same here.
Why do you think just because YOU don't need it, noone will?
This is not a personal debate. The most important reason I see against this idea
is that portage is a package manager, not a documentation center.
Why should the ebuild contain links to documentation? To be honest, not even the
HOMEPAGE info is needed, it's just for the user's convenience. I tend to refer
to the UNIX principle: The right tool for the right job. For your problem,
google (or any other search engine of course) is the right tool.
No, don't give information to users! Don't have a defined way to get
information to a package! It's evil!
Do you think we're all sadists? Sorry, but such statements don't help your
argumentation.
BTW, if "This is out of the domain of a package in any package
management system", then why do some packages print additional
information after emerging, like what files should be updated manually?
For the user's convenience of course. Introducing documentation links in ebuilds
however is a massive effort, and I don't think that effort is worth it. I'd
rather fix a broken package than googling for documentation.
I'm sure every user is able to search for HOWTOs, but not every user is able to
fix a broken package himself.
That question was rhetorical. Of course it's because portage can't
handle everything.
This is why there should be an easy, defined way to get information.
This defined way is google, IMHO.
Regards,
--
Simon Stelling
Gentoo/AMD64 Operational Co-Lead
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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