[Pkg-virtualbox-devel] Bug#524154: package descriptions could be clearer after -qt splitoff

[Peter Eisentraut]

Package: virtualbox-ose-qt
Version: 2.2.0-dfsg-1
Severity: normal

After a few puzzled moments I understood that you had split off the graphical
user interface from the virtualbox-ose pakcage into the new virtualbox-ose-qt
package.  This makes sense.  The package descriptions don't really explain the
new situation very well, though.

"""
Description: x86 virtualization solution - QT4 based user interface
 VirtualBox is a free x86 virtualization solution allowing a wide range
 of x86 operating systems such as Windows, DOS, BSD or Linux to run on a
 Linux system.
 .
 This package provides the binaries for the iQT4 based graphical user 
interface
 of the Open Source Edition of VirtualBox.
"""

This sounds like, oh, there is a new Qt4-based user interface that is being
offered as an alternative to the previous Qt3/whatever user interface.  There
is no explanation in the description of the main virtualbox-ose package that
it does not contain a graphical user interface (anymore).

Also, making references to implementation details in package descriptions is
frowned upon.  No one cares all that much that it uses Qt 4.  People care that
it is in fact a graphical user interface.  One might in face complain the
package should have been named virtualbox-ose-gui or something like that.  The
package doesn't provide any Qt-related functionality, after all.

Also^2, it is spelled "Qt".  And I think there is no such thing as "iQT". :-)

I suggest something like the following for improved package descriptions:

"""
Package: virtualbox-ose
Description: x86 virtualization solution - base binaries
 VirtualBox is a free x86 virtualization solution allowing a wide range
 of x86 operating systems such as Windows, DOS, BSD or Linux to run on a
 Linux system.
 .
 This package provides the binaries for the Open Source Edition of
 VirtualBox. The virtualbox-ose-source package is also required in order to
 compile the kernel modules needed for virtualbox-ose.  A graphical user
 interface for VirtualBox is provided by the package virtualbox-ose-qt.

Package: virtualbox-ose-qt/-gui
Description: x86 virtualization solution - graphical user interface
 VirtualBox is a free x86 virtualization solution allowing a wide range
 of x86 operating systems such as Windows, DOS, BSD or Linux to run on a
 Linux system.
 .
 This package provides the graphical user interface of the Open Source
 Edition of VirtualBox.
"""