Today I was trying to explain to a friend the concept of using a package management front end to search for and install packages. He liked the idea of descriptions, but found it hard to imagine what some programs looked like. It occurs to me that what is missing is screenshots.
Please note that this idea is targeted at GUI users, particularly those who also use a GUI package manager (e.g., synaptic), though not exclusively. What I propose is this: A service located at screenshots.debian.org (or something else appropriate), similar to packages.debian.org. Naturally, every package will not require screenshots, but for those which would benefit from letting the user see them in action, this could work. It would be necessary to add a field in debian/control called "Screenshots:" which provides a URL to the screenshots. The package manager can handle this in different ways. For example, aptitude may simply want to print the URL so that if the user is using it in an xterm, he can copy and paste into a browser. OTOH, synaptic might simply create a button (without showing the URL) that launches a browser to the right window. Alternatively, synaptic may download the images and just display them in a tab or part of the window. The possibilties are many. Users could also simply browse to screenshots.d.o and search and browse as with packages.d.o. Uploads of screenshots can be handled similarly to uploads now, either by a recognized DD or a DD sponsoring someone else. Another possibility would be for something which requires a web login and allows direct uploading. We would need a way to tag the screenshots with version numbers and other suitable metadata to avert confusion for users. Additionally, we may want to, as p.d.o does, differentiate between oldstable/stable/testing/experimental. User contributed screenshots can be submitted by filing wishlist bugs against the package and the maintainer can then choose whether or not to accept the contribution. There would need to be standards for size and format. I would propose 640x480 or 480x640 (soft minimum) to 1024x768 or 768x1024 (hard maximum), PNG with max compression. Max file size could be set at 100k or something like that. I'd be interested in knowing: * Would such an idea be feasible? * Would maintainers be willing to occasionally upload screenshots? * What would be a good way to get started? (*) As far as getting started: * Would this need to start on debian.net? * What would be the requirements/limitations/guidelines? Did I miss anything? I would really appreciate any comments and suggestions on this. Regards, -Roberto -- Roberto C. Sanchez http://people.connexer.com/~roberto http://www.connexer.com
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