[Debtags-devel] Proposed Debtags goals for Etch

[Thaddeus H. Black]

Returning from vacation, I seem to be making a large number of posts in
one day.  I am not trying to flood the list!  Only to catch up with you.
Please pardon.

This particular reply is long and boring.  Perhaps only Enrico will read
it.

Enrico:

> These are a bit big changes: I'd like to hear some other voices before
> going on doing them.

Understood.

> I'll try to make a proposal for update:
> 
>   implemented-in and format are merged into made-of, resulting in
>   something like this:
> 
>   made-of::lang-ada - Ada
>   made-of::lang-bash - BASH
>   made-of::lang-c - C
>   made-of::lang-c++ - C++
>   made-of::lang-fortran - Fortran
>   made-of::lang-haskell - Haskell
>   made-of::lang-java - Java
>   made-of::lang-lisp - Lisp
>   made-of::lang-lua - Lua
>   made-of::lang-ml - ML
>   made-of::lang-objc - Objective C
>   made-of::lang-ocaml - Ocaml
>   made-of::lang-perl - Perl
>   made-of::lang-php - PHP
>   made-of::lang-pike - Pike
>   made-of::lang-python - Python
>   made-of::lang-r - GNU R
>   made-of::lang-ruby - Ruby
>   made-of::lang-scheme - Scheme
>   made-of::lang-tcl - TCL Tool Command Language
>   made-of::format-html - HTML Hypertext Markup Language
>   made-of::format-pdf - PDF Documents
>   made-of::format-postscript - Postscript
>   made-of::format-sgml - SGML, Standard Generalized Markup Language
>   made-of::format-svg - SVG, Scalable Vector Graphics
>   made-of::format-tex - TeX, LaTeX and DVI
>   made-of::format-vrml - VRML Virtual Reality Markup Language
>   made-of::format-xml - XML

Good idea.  Do it.

Okay.  I've several comments regarding the following.  They are just
comments.  Regard them or not, at your discretion.

> Then there can be:
> 
>   format also merged into works-with, resulting in a further level of
>   refinement:
>   
>   works-with::3d-model - 3D model
>   works-with::3d-model-vrml - VRML Virtual Reality Markup Language

Interesting.  Good idea.

>   works-with::archive - Archive

As in .tar archives?  If so, it might be logical to add something like

    works-with::compressed-data

>   works-with::archive-iso9660 - ISO 9660 CD Filesystem

Good.

>   works-with::audio - Audio
>   works-with::audio-mp3 - MP3 Audio

Good.

>   works-with::audio-ogg - Ogg Vorbis Audio
>   works-with::audio-vorbis - Ogg Vorbis Audio

I am not sure that Ogg and Vorbis need separate tags.  Do a significant
number of applications apply one but not the other?  It's like DVI.  In
theory, DVI is an independent format, but in practice it is merely an
arm of TeX.

However, your proposal is fine as is.  Either way.

>   works-with::audio-wav - Wave uncompressed audio format
>   works-with::bugs - Software bugs or other issues

Please clarify works-with::bugs.  Does it mean, "understands standard
DWARF compiled-object-embedded debugging symbols?"  If so, somehow this
does not feel right.  DWARF is not a mere file format.  It is something
deeper than this.  It is the proper companion to ELF.

>   works-with::dictionary - Dictionary

Meaning dict files?

>   works-with::dtp - Desktop Publishing (DTP)

Please elaborate.

>   works-with::fax - Fax

Okay.  This is a small and dying class of packages, though.

>   works-with::file - Any file

But cat(1) works with any file.  Is this tag needed?

I believe that you have a vision for this tag, Enrico; only I do not see
it yet.  Please elaborate.

>   works-with::font - Fonts

Subdivide into bitmap (like x11) and vector (like postscript type-1) fonts.

>   works-with::mail - Email

Good.  Not all mail is mbox format, but this is beside the point.  Good
tag.

>   works-with::music-notation - Music notation

Including MIDI?  MIDI may want its own tag.  Or not.  At your
discretion.

>   works-with::people - People

Hm.  I admit that I do not know what to make of this.

>   works-with::pim - Personal data

Good.

>   works-with::plaintext - Plain text
>   works-with::plaintext-unicode - Unicode

Very good.

>   works-with::process - Running programs

Okay.  However, a process is not a format.  I am not sure that this fits
here---but if you feel that it might fit, please leave it there for now.

>   works-with::rasterimage - Raster image

Very good.

>   works-with::sourcecode - Source code

Too vague.

>   works-with::spreadsheet - Spreadsheet

Okay.

>   works-with::textdocument - Complex text document

Please elaborate.

>   works-with::textdocument-html - HTML Hypertext Markup Language
>   works-with::textdocument-sgml - SGML, Standard Generalized Markup Language

Good.

>   works-with::textdocument-tex - TeX, LaTeX and DVI

Good.  I approve of including DVI here.

>   works-with::textdocument-pdf - PDF Documents
>   works-with::textdocument-postscript - Postscript

Good.

>   works-with::vectorgraphics - Vector graphics
>   works-with::vectorgraphics-svg - SVG, Scalable Vector Graphics

Very good.

>   works-with::video - Video and Animation

In the long run, this tag is unfortunately probably too broad.  However,
for the present, this tag is fine.  Wait until some mainainer of a
works-with::video package shows up.  He'll tell us what specific tags he
needs.

>   works-with::video-ogg - Ogg Vorbis Audio

Having manually tagged every package in sarge, I thought that I'd seen
it all; but I didn't know that there was such a thing as video-ogg.

>   format::rss - RSS Rich Site Summary
>   format::xml - XML
> 
>   and this indecision probably means that works-with is still a bit
>   unclear.

-- 
Thaddeus H. Black
508 Nellie's Cave Road
Blacksburg, Virginia 24060, USA
+1 540 961 0920, t at b-tk.org, thb at debian.org
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