[Pkg-octave-devel] [RFC] patch octave to help users install auxiliary packages

[Jordi Gutiérrez Hermoso]

On 3 August 2013 06:33, Rafael Laboissiere <rafael at laboissiere.net> wrote:
> * Mike Miller <mtmiller at ieee.org> [2013-08-01 09:42]:
>
>> Hi, looking for comments on this unfinished idea. What do you think about
>> carrying a patch for octave that would indicate which Debian packages users
>> need to install when certain commands fail? I'm thinking specifically about
>> doc and mkoctfile, are there others? Yes, users can read README.Debian, but
>> we all know not everyone looks there. And if we can provide feedback right
>> in the interpreter, why not?
>>
>> Only a small number of bug reports have ever come in about this [1,2], but
>> it does get asked on the upstream help list fairly often.
>>
>> Anyway, here's a quick-n-dirty patch to demonstrate what I'm talking
>> about. Would this be welcome? If so I will test it some more and develop it
>> further.
>>
>>  [1] http://pad.lv/1194712
>>  [2] http://bugs.debian.org/555646
>>
>> [patch snipped]
>
>
> This is a pretty good idea but I guess that your solution would be
> implemented as a patch to the Debian package.  This would increase the
> maintenance burden for the DOG.  Another solution would be to incorporate
> the patch upstream but change it such that it will issue the error/warning
> messages only in Debian systems.  Debian systems can be detected, for
> instance, by the presence of the /etc/debian_version file.

We happen to like Debian and it's probably (through Ubuntu) the
biggest distributor of Octave on GNU-based systems, so I can imagine
that jwe might approve such a patch, but still, if it's a patch that
concerns Debian packaging, shouldn't it be only kept in Debian repos?
Or should we make the patch more generic and say something like "look
for packages like this in your generic distribution"?

- Jordi G. H.