[Pkg-octave-devel] Octave Package Meta-Package

[Bill Denney]

Thomas Weber wrote:
> [putting Bill into CC]
>   
Thanks, please continue cc'ing me.
> On 18/05/08 17:59 +0200, Rafael Laboissiere wrote:
>   
>> * John W. Eaton <jwe at bevo.che.wisc.edu> [2008-05-18 10:36]:
>>
>>     
>>> On 18-May-2008, Bill Denney wrote:
>>>
>>> | Would it be feasible to make a meta-package that depends on the current 
>>> | version of all octave packages?
>>>
>>> I would prefer to avoid doing this.
>>>       
>> Me too.  I do not see the point in doing it.  
>>     
> I do see a point. I can't imagine anybody going through a list of 30+
> packages and deciding about each installation individually. So in the
> end, people just install everything and are done with it: 
> 	space is cheap, time is expensive.
>   
This is my reasoning.  It would be fine with me if this package depends 
on only packages that do not override base functionality.  I just have a 
preference for not having to type something like this in:

apt-get install $(apt-cache search ^octave- | grep -v "2.1 branch" | 
grep -v "3.0 branch" | grep -v dummy | awk '{print $1}')

(currently this is 35 packages)

I fully understand that we would not likely want to have functions that 
override core Octave functions installed by default, and as stated above 
my real preference would be to have this much simpler than it currently 
is.  I'm an on-again-off-again octave developer and I find this 
inconvenient-- I can only imagine how daunting people who just want to 
use octave find it.

I would really like to see an octave-packages-recommended .deb that 
includes all packages that do not override core functionality.

Thanks,

Bill