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Prefab Program Selections (was: RE: Regrouping on "installation profile" idea)
- From: "Gary R. Van Sickle" <g dot r dot vansickle at worldnet dot att dot net>
- To: <cygwin-apps at cygwin dot com>
- Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 22:43:11 -0600
- Subject: Prefab Program Selections (was: RE: Regrouping on "installation profile" idea)
> From: Tacvek
[snip]
> I may be just a user, and even one who had *very* little
> trouble learning to use setup, but I would say either
> INSTALLATION-TYPE or TASKS
>
> I'm a Debian user, and must note that Debian uses the word
> task for a similar concept.
Reason #63187638 why Linux will never ever ever ever ever win the desktop.
I'm sorry, but "Tasks" could not be a less meaningful way of describing this
concept.
"Installation Type" is better, but the issue you run into there is, "I want
to change my Installation Type, but I still want to play CygTetris, what do
I do!?!?!"
> Should you be careful with the naming of the meta-packages
> TASKS may be the clearest.
> Examples:
>
> * C/C++ Development
> * Gaming :-)
> * Java Development
> * Latex Development
> * Perl Development
> * SSH Server
> * Web Server
> * X Windows
>
See how the term "Tasks" loses all meaning after "Perl Development"?
>
> > Has anyone been collecting the list of names that have been
> proposed?
> Using '.', '-' and all caps:
>
> Main Candidates:
> INSTALLATION
> INSTALLATION-PROFILES
> INSTALLATION-TYPE
> PROFILES
> TASKS
>
> These ones don't seem great:
> DEFAULT-PROFILES
> USER-PROFILES
> FUNCTIONAL-[GROUPS|PROFILES]
> USEFUL-[GROUPS|PROFILES]
> PRESELECTED-[GROUPS|PROFILES|PACKAGES]
>
The concept that's trying to be communicated here is "A selection of
programs that are likely to be of interest to the person who's eye was
caught by the sdesc". I think it's pretty critical that "a selection of
programs" be conveyed clearly, and especially avoid the connotation that
they're somehow exclusive to others. Ergo, "INSTALLATION-anything" seems to
me to be out (see "How do I change my installation {type,profile,whatever}?"
in the FAQ). "Tasks" just isn't at all intuitive. "Profiles" makes some
sense, but mostly in the "What's a 'Profile'?" sense in that it doesn't
really collide with any particular concept. How about:
"Prefab Program Selections"
? It still has that Unix ugly to it, but it actually says what it means and
means what it says, so everybody wins.
--
Gary R. Van Sickle