Subject: gnuplot-doc: incomplete setup of this package
Package: gnuplot-doc
Version: 5.0.4+dfsg1-3
Severity: important
Note: This bug report equally applies to package `gnuplot5-doc'.
Dear Maintainer,
The package as installed by debian requires a sysadmin to perform
multiple manual actions in order to make it reasonably useful to the
average expected user of the software. In the case of gnuplot, we
might argue whether an average user can be expected to be a young math
student (child or young adult); this bug report will list deficiencies
that even an adult average user would find gratuitous nuisances, and
that every user would perform or want to perform in order to make the
package usable / accessible. Thus, since these issues can be trivially
addressed in the software packaging, they should.
1] Uncompress data files of the `demos' in the `examples' folder.
1.1] The demos won't work unless the data files are decompressed, a
non-privileged user can't uncompress them in place, and the
demos requires the data files to be in the same folder or in the
loadpath, so the each unprivileged user on a multi-user system
must manually identify, copy, and decompress data files of a demo
to a ~ folder, and add that folder to the gnuplot loadpath.
1.2] The system-wide `examples' folder is full of compressed files
that take no extra space when uncompressed, because even
uncompressed they are less than a file's minimum allocation
size. A few of the data files are negligibly larger.
1.3] In a large multi-user educational environment, this can be
expected to lead to student tumult in the first year of use,
followed by meetings between the teacher and the sysadmin, and
sysadmin gripes about how to handle package updates if the
files are changed in-place.
2] Uncompress the documentation files.
2.1] Some of the files in the htmldocs folder are distributed
compressed, and are thus unusable without the same obstacles
mentioned in #1 above. Also, as above, the files are small and
the space allocation difference is zero or negligible.
2.2] The documentation files that are distributed in formats pdf,
dvi, ps, and gih are also distributed compressed, and are thus
unusable without the same obstacles mentioned in paragraph 1.3
above.
3] Add xfreedesktop menu files for the documentation
3.1] Since options for gnuplot usage include `gnuplot-x11' and
`gnuplot-qt', the documentation should include xfreedesktop
integration, because users in such environments expect
everything to appear in a gui menu. At a minimum, this would
mean creation of `.desktop' files in /usr/share/applications
pointing to the files `gnuplot.pdf', `tutorial.pdf',
`htmldocs/index.html', and `gpcard.ps'.
3.2] See paragraph 1.3, above.
4] Complete the local `webification' of the demos.
This is something we/I haven't yet performed locally, as there was
already enough to report in this bug report before I continue
locally to get our install suitable for student use, but here's the
problem and the expected solution.
4.1] The package includes a folder `examples/html' with a
(compressed?) file named `index.save', which is a localized
html page for all the gnuplot demos. GREAT! This would be so
much more user-friendly than having students explore the demos
blindly using a file manager.
4.2] None of the links on that page point to valid pages.
4.3] The same folder includes a perl script `webify.pl' which claims
to create those pages. There is also a `Makefile' which claims
to auto-generate an html demo set, with the confidence-
deflating caveat "some of the demos need manual intervention".
4.4] See paragraphs 3.1 and 1.3, above.
5] Add correct path to `examples' folder in `gnuplotrc' file
uncommented loadpath.
This technically might be a bug against packages `gnuplot' and
`gnuplot5', but only makes sense if this package (gnuplot-doc) is
installed.
5.1] The file `gnuplotrc' should have its `set loadpath' line
uncommented.
5.2] The loadpath should include sane defaults including an entry
for the package version's demo folder. Maybe precede the entry
with one for a sane folder in the user's home environment, eg.
~/gnuplot.
5.3] See paragraphs 3.1 and 1.3, above.
-- System Information:
Distributor ID: Devuan
Description: Devuan GNU/Linux 1.0 (jessie)
Release: 1.0
Codename: jessie
Architecture: x86_64
Kernel: Linux 4.5.0-0.bpo.2-amd64 (SMP w/4 CPU cores)
Locale: LANG=en_US.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash
Init: sysvinit (via /sbin/init)
-- debconf information:
Unescaped left brace in regex is deprecated, passed through in regex; mark\
ed by <-- HERE in m/^(.*?)(\\)?\${ <-- HERE ([^{}]+)}(.*)$/ at /usr/share/\
perl5/Debconf/Question.pm line 72.
Unescaped left brace in regex is deprecated, passed through in regex; mark\
ed by <-- HERE in m/\${ <-- HERE ([^}]+)}/ at /usr/share/perl5/Debconf/Con\
fig.pm line 30.
--
hkp://keys.gnupg.net
CA45 09B5 5351 7C11 A9D1 7286 0036 9E45 1595 8BC0
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