* Antoine Saroufim <antoine.saroufim@gmail.com> [2013-12-20 00:43]:
Currently, we have a fair amount of software in the default repositories that the user can utilize. If a user wants to install software that isn't present in the default repositories, he/she can look for it on OBS. The user can then proceed to add the targeted repository to his/her system via 1-click install, zypper, or YaST2. The current ... system works, but isn't quite perfect due to the following reasons:
- Users can't install packages not available in the enabled repositories.
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- Users may have to add many repositories to get all their needs.
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- Users might get confused when apps are offered by multiple repositories.
The real problem which you don't mention here is that most (although there are some exceptions) OBS projects are a mixed bag, there are packages that are in Factory, there are good quality packages, there are packages with awful quality and there are unmaintained packages. Users (unless they are also package maintainers) are usually not able to judge the quality of the package and packaged software, if a package is popular it does not necessarily say much about its quality, e.g. see the discussion about acroread removal from Factory.
As such, I propose the following improvements:
1 - Create larger repositories and merge similar ones together.
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2 - Create Community repository that is managed and run by the community.
We already had that, it was called Contrib and originally created when Factory wasn't open for submissions from non-SUSE packagers, fortunately it is obsolete and dead now. It had lower review standards than Factory and in the end it suffered from the same quality problems as many OBS projects do.
1 - Make zypper utilize smarter metadata.
Zypper can be updated to read all the metadata from all the repositories and could suggest adding a repository if the desired package isn't in the currently enabled repository. People should be able to use zypper to find packages instead of having to resort to a browser to search through OBS. This way, users can use gnome-software to access all the software on OBS (in the future when a zypper plugin is written for gnome-software).
2 - Visibly tag repositories to show their stability.
In order to help users choose the most stable repository, visible tags should be provided to indicate the stability before the user adds the repository.
See above, if you mean packaging quality by "stability" then this is in most cases not a characteristic of a whole project but individual packages and currently our only way to measure a certain quality level is whether a packages has passed Factory review.
3 - Make repositories collaborative. By allowing collaborative work we may end up seeing less repositories in general. If person X creates repo for package Y, person X is asked if repo is to be open for collaboration to everyone. If person X decides to quit, another maintainer can pick up the work on the same repository.
Projects should already be collaborative and open to participation, anyone can send sr's to fix bugs or update version or a maintainership request if a package is abandoned, provided there are responsive project maintainers.
4 - Allow user to hide all "home" repositories.
I firmly believe that we should make everything simpler. It isn't a matter of what can or can't be done, it's more about how easy it is to get things done. By clearing confusion and allowing collaborative work, we can help the users save precious time, give them an easier system, and help them make better decisions. With front-end GUIs for package managers, like Apper and gnome-software, on the rise, the traditional method of installing software is changing. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Thus, we should reduce the steps and complications of installing and managing software in order to appeal to more users and to further satisfy the ones we have. Improvement is what keeps projects interesting. I for one do not want a system that works. I want a system that works better than it did before. I hope you all consider my suggestions before judging them and think of the average users, not just of the advanced ones. Thank you for your time and I hope we can keep this thread civil.
I think putting effort into addressing the above is somewhat misguided, it would be much better spent on adding capacities to Factory review/maintenance so that it can deal with even larger numbers of packages and to encourage packagers to maintain their package in Factory which entails a review and thus a certain quality standard. That automatically alleviates users needs to add many additional project repos in order to get a certain package. And for those who want bleeding edge version we offer Tumbleweed and hopefully a more stable Factory soon. -- Guido Berhoerster -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-project+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, email: opensuse-project+owner@opensuse.org