[Trisquel-devel] Idea: Dummy or virtual packages for some non-free software instead of removing

[Ivaylo Valkov]

Hello list,

I have a proposition, but I do not know is it going to be easy to
implement and maintain. As I already wrote in a comment for bug #5330
[1], just removing packages that are not free software from the
repositories is kind of problematic for two reasons. 

First it might break dependencies, which is the case with bug #5330.
Although some of the programs might still be able to work
(theoretically), if they are installed, but some missing not-essential
dependencies are not. Second, it is not clear for the users why a
package is missing. In the case of bug #5330 it turned out, the reason
was licensing issues, and without knowing that I just installed the
missing package from Ubuntu.

The following is pretty much the same as my comment in the bug report:

Licensing issues are important, but without knowing why packages are
missing leads to work-arounds like mine which does not actually solve
anything if a package is potentially non-free or at least parts of its
source code. Simply removing packages breaks dependencies and leads to
broken systems.

Isn't it possible instead of removing packages to make them virtual or
dummy with a short explanation why they are missing and potentially a
link to the bug report in Trisquel or upstream?

Any comments?

[1] http://trisquel.info/en/issues/5330
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 198 bytes
Desc: This is a digitally signed message part
URL: <http://listas.trisquel.info/pipermail/trisquel-devel/attachments/20120605/e773a7a9/attachment.pgp>