Re: Gnome retrival system.

[Gleef <dzol virtual-yellow com>]

On Tue, 9 Feb 1999, Yoni Elhanani wrote:
> Hi everyone.
> Due to the discussions of gnome hard to install policies,
> I decided to make a gnome retriever app.

I don't understand.  There are many problems people have installing GNOME,
but I don't see how a retriever app helps any of them.
  * Top of the list of install problems is that GNOME requires a lot of
    supporting libraries and programs which are missing or outdated in
    most current distributions.  Also, the process of getting all these in
    place is perhaps not as well documented as it should be.
  * The distributed RPMs are both out of date and imperfect.
  * The spec files on CVS are imperfect
  * We're still in development, and sometimes the tarballs don't compile
    under unexpected circumstances
  * The anonymous CVS servers sometimes lag more than they should,
    restricting access to bugfixes


> It will retrieve your gnome apps (as long as you got gtk+ and
> gnome-libs, ofcourse).
> It will rpm them,

What do you mean "it will rpm them"?  Usually this means "taking source
code and making it into both source and binary RPMs", but later on you
seem to be talking as if the RPMs are there before you run the program.


> check if there are newer versions, check for
> depenedcies, and other features one would except from such utility.

If you are compiling your own RPMs, these need to be done beforehand, not
after the fact.  If you are using premade RPMs, these should be done
automatically by the rpm program.


> However, since I'm not familiar with RPM and gnome packages and
> dependencies, I would like some pointers and suggestions from you all.

The best way to get familiar with RPM is to read Maximum RPM, available in
postscript form from RPM's website (http://www.rpm.org).  Warning, it's a
big book.


> Also, when this thing is done, I will need to have a site that can host
> the database so people will know what are the newest packages around.
> I also hope that by the time it's done there will be RPMs to [almost]
> every availible package.

Have you looked at rpmfind?  It does everything you refer to above 
except actually building the RPM.  It already has a database online
(rpmfind.net, hosted by w3.org).  It already mirrors the GNOME RPMs from
the FTP site.

Best of Luck,
-Gleef