I like the consept of dselect as it is but som improvments are welcome. The sugestions is sorted in thre cattegorys: 1) Small improvments to dselects interface. 2) Bigger new featurs to dselect. 3) New / improved featurs involving possably changes to the pakage managment system.
Lets start with 1) small improvments to dselects interface... 1.1 The enter key When the user press ENTER no strange fings must happen. If its a menu, the higlited item is shosen (as it works now). Some sugestuons for other cases: ENTER in the package list: pop up a screan describing the pakage curent status in verbose text at the top. The rest of the pop-up is a menu wher You can chose wath to do with the pakage. All the pakage status in verbose (instal, purge, hold, unhold etc). Seperated by a line some options not conected to the curent package (abort menu, check dependensis and go to main menu, go to main menu without checking dependensys, abort session whitout saving changes, show pakage deskription full screan (aborted whit enter), show pakage filelist in full screen, change preferenses/view etc). ENTER in the dependesy resuluton list shold be much the same whit som extra opten like: abort dependency screen whitout saving shanges made (inkluding the changes premade by dselect). The view description option above is werry neded here. All this option shuld have an accalrator key asigned. It shold also be presented in an cosistent way in the menus, eg in squar brakets. This will help newbes bekome DEITY-gurus an fly along... 1.2 Change focus If the user press TAB Focus shold be moved. In the package list focus is cycled thru deskripton window (allow scroll of deskription whit cursor keys and space), some menus att the top of scrern (preferenses, help etc) and the man package list window. The option to scroll the deskription window with a accelarator key shold be keept. 1.3 Limited view When presing enter on the header line the first menu shose shuld be to toggel the if that group shold pe precented or not. In the begining all sections shold be closed. This will make it easier to navigate the huge set of debian pakages. 1.4 Posability to treat recomends as recomends Or shold I say as sugests. This shose shold be posably to do from the preferens menu. It's ok (possably best) if the preferenses is reset to some default when the program is restarted. Changes to the default preferenses should be posably thru a config file (dotfile). 2) Bigger improvments 2.1 Searched view A advansed serch screen would be nice. It shuld seartch the pakage names, descriptions, filelists, possably depenndensis in a powerfull manner. You may then go to a package list and chose (like usual) among onle those page maching Your querry. Dependesy resulution most of corse check all pakage. It would be nice to be able to save the querrys as well.... 2.1 Loging / Supressing of mesages Loging of what dselect have done and any problem wold be nice. Supression of the famus skipping mesage whold be nice. A preeview what dselect is about to do wold be nice (a list of packages to install/deinstall/perge). If the preeview is alreddy sorted in dependency order that wold bbe nice. Dependency sorting is allredy in the DEITY project? else that is a major sugestion! 2.2 Different default for different distrubutions. An exampel. DEITY is ponting both att stable and unstabel. I do have a pakage from stabel in status unhold and want it to be automaticly shosen for uppgrade if ther is a new version in stabel. But I only want it to upgrade to unstable if I tell it to. What i want is some mekanism to tell that I want to know about new stuff from some source and I want to bee able to install it by selecting it but I dont want to automagicly uppgrade to it...... undurstandable? 3.1 Pree Configure If a pakage has a PreeConfigure script that shuld be run from DEITY when the pakage is shosen for install BEFORE the dependensy resolution given the script a change to resolv the dependensys in a more context avare manner. This will add posabilatys to maake great meta pakages. This dose not demand that the config info is stored in the selection database but it be nice to at least hav a pointer to the config info in the database to make it posibly to distrubute it automaticly betwen maskines. Posably adding an uninteraktive option to install making pakages having wrong preeconfiginfo fail insted of go interaktiv on install (makes it even more possably to make automated upgrades of several maskines). 3.2 Meta and slave package Slave pakages is pakages that is normaly not shoved i DEITY selections lists. if thay are neaded they are chosen automagicaly an if the ar not neaded they are removed automagicaly. For smal pakages that take no costom configuration and comes in only one version. It shold be possably thru the preferenses to make DETIY treat slave pakages just like ordanary pakages. Meta pakages is pakages that makes it esier to install other pakages with a higer level interface. The Pree Configure mecanism above make it posably to make thise pakages graet in funktionality! A novice mode to DEITY shoving only meta pakages to the user might be good (possably defalt mode?). 3.3 Post Config Nice if it was posably to reach (from DEITY) some scripts for finnetuning / reconfigure alreddy installed and conigured pakages (for pakages having souch scripts). 3.3 Unchanged status and default selections Making it posably to give a pakage an 'unshanged' status which mens it will go to another 'default' selection database to fetch that pakages status. This migt go in arbitray steps making it posably to build a herarchy of maskines that uses the selection database of the maskin above, but with the possability of local overides. Should add even more possabilitys for maintaining a network of debian maskines.... Well... this is enuf for now. I'm working on a C++ Wrapper-classes set for making it possably to interface different displays/widget-sets from one source (even line-oriented tty). I don't think I will reach usefullnes result in time to be an alternativ for Your project :( but pleas inform me/the world about Your aproatch. Now I gonna look att Andy Mortimers 'Giggel'..... God Luck /Lars -- TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] .
