Subject: Re: [linux-audio-dev] What about debian tasks? [was: Audio distribution revisited]
From: Frank Barknecht (barknech_AT_ph-cip.uni-koeln.de)
Date: Fri Sep 15 2000 - 20:05:27 EEST
John Littler hat gesagt: // John Littler wrote:
> Frank Barknecht <barknech_AT_ph-cip.uni-koeln.de> writes:
>
> > I wonder if anyone ever thought of an audio distribution based on Debian.
> > Debian has this IMHO wonderful concept of "tasks". These are collections of
> > smaller software packages that can be installed in one step. E.g. there is
> > an X-task, that installs all needed packages for a running X-Windows
> > including window manager, xterms and stuff.
> >
> scripted RPM's will do the same sort of thing .. and they do
> in existing installation scripts. I don't know much about
> Debian 'tasks' .. whether it is technically nicer in any
> way than the RPM system.
Don't know about scripted rpm's but the good thing about debian packages
is their decentralized approach. As debian is produced by more than
500 people around the world for some years now it has developed a
sophisticated set of tools to coordinate all those package maintainers.
(I am not a debian developer myself, although I know how to create
debian packages (it's not that hard) and am using Debian for years now.)
Maybe I'll illustrate what I mean by an example. Say I would maintain
the debian package for "soundtracker" and Pete maintains development
versions of "snd". Both are not included in the standard debian distro.
Masato Taruishi maintains all official ALSA debs, that are needed by snd and
soundtracker, and are included in Debian.
Now Pete and I can upload our debianized snd and soundtracker packages to
www.audio-workstation-task.org
On www.audio-workstation-task.org there is the description of a task
"audio-workstation-task" that - if choosen by an debian end user - will
install the ALSA stuff from ftp.debian.org and afterwards snd plus
soundtracker from www.audio-workstation-task.org.
Voila, we have a full blown linux distribution ready that can work as a
not yet so full blown linux audio workstation.
If soundtracker goes up one version, I would just make a new package,
upload it and the end user that installs "audio-workstation-task" will get
the new version.
Now all this would be even more simple if every software developer would
use debian and made those debian packages on his/her own ;-) Otherwise we
have to find people that maintain sound packages and someone that maintains
the task.
The advantage of the debian-task approach is, that the Debian distribution
is around *now*. One would not need to create a distribution from scratch.
A task with just the existing debian packages should be a matter of a few
days, it could even be included in the main debian distribution in short
time, if someone would write that task.
bye,
--
__ __
Frank Barknecht ____ ______ ____ __ trip\ \ / /wire ______
/ __// __ /__/ __// // __ \ \/ / __ \\ ___\
/ / / ____/ / / / // ____// /\ \\ ___\\____ \
/_/ /_____/ /_/ /_//_____// / \ \\_____\\_____\
/_/ \_\
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Fri Sep 15 2000 - 21:01:30 EEST