finding upstream
It is, in general, difficult to find the upstream developers of a given debian package. The package page does not include any mention of a web site or mailing list where actual development occurs. The .dsc files also do not generally list how to find upstream. I suggest that when there is an upstream, debian should include a link to it on the package page (for instance, a link to the sourceforge project page or the project's home page), and/or a development mailing list if one exists. The same information should be in the .dsc file for the package somehow. Any thoughts on this? Cheers, Bob McElrath [Univ. of Wisconsin at Madison, Department of Physics] Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives. A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both. - James Madison (4th President of the U.S.) pgp0.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: finding upstream
On Wednesday 06 August 2003 00:40, Colin Watson wrote: On Tue, Aug 05, 2003 at 02:50:43PM -0500, Bob McElrath wrote: It is, in general, difficult to find the upstream developers of a given debian package. The package page does not include any mention of a web site or mailing list where actual development occurs. The .dsc files also do not generally list how to find upstream. This is normally the purpose of /usr/share/doc/*/copyright, and by and large it fulfils that purpose well. Yes, and no. If you want more information about the program you will first have to download it and then read /usr/share/doc/package/*. Such a link on the package page would at least prevent the user from using google... I suggest that when there is an upstream, debian should include a link to it on the package page (for instance, a link to the sourceforge project page or the project's home page), and/or a development mailing list if one exists. I don't think there's any disagreement that this would be useful, but it's up to individual package maintainers to do this. The packages.debian.org pages are generated from package descriptions and dependencies. Is there a possibility to suggest it for further versions of the package maintaining policy. Something such as The description should include a reference to the upstream source ? The same information should be in the .dsc file for the package somehow. I disagree; it should be in the package description, i.e. the .deb. That's where we put descriptive metadata. Me too. The .dsc file is nothing a user should have to read. The package description is the right place for an upstream link. joerg -- Gib GATES keine Chance! -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: finding upstream
On Tue, Aug 05, 2003 at 02:50:43PM -0500, Bob McElrath wrote: It is, in general, difficult to find the upstream developers of a given debian package. The package page does not include any mention of a web site or mailing list where actual development occurs. The .dsc files also do not generally list how to find upstream. This is normally the purpose of /usr/share/doc/*/copyright, and by and large it fulfils that purpose well. I suggest that when there is an upstream, debian should include a link to it on the package page (for instance, a link to the sourceforge project page or the project's home page), and/or a development mailing list if one exists. I don't think there's any disagreement that this would be useful, but it's up to individual package maintainers to do this. The packages.debian.org pages are generated from package descriptions and dependencies. The same information should be in the .dsc file for the package somehow. I disagree; it should be in the package description, i.e. the .deb. That's where we put descriptive metadata. Cheers, -- Colin Watson [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
