synaptic with smart?

[Robert Xu]

On Thu, Jul 8, 2010 at 17:38, Robert Xu <robxu9 at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, Jul 8, 2010 at 16:27, Steve Morris <samorris at netspace.net.au> wrote:
>> On 08/07/10 07:00, Robert Xu wrote:
>>>
>>> On Wed, Jul 7, 2010 at 16:45, Steve Morris<samorris at netspace.net.au>
>>>  wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 07/07/10 09:38, Robert Xu wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, Jul 6, 2010 at 17:19, Steve Morris<samorris at netspace.net.au>
>>>>>  wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 06/07/10 09:00, Robert Xu wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Sun, Jul 4, 2010 at 05:59, Anders F Björklund<afb at algonet.se>
>>>>>>>  wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Robert Xu wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Quick Question. Is it possible to modify Synaptic to use smart as a
>>>>>>>>> backend? (or has anyone tried it?)
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Synaptic is in C++, and it works closely with the libapt library.
>>>>>>>> Even the RPM port of it (http://apt-rpm.org/) is slightly broken.
>>>>>>>> It's also closely tied to the GTK+ interface, where Smart works
>>>>>>>> in both GTK and Qt and other interfaces. And Smart is in Python.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Because looking at the current smart-gui, I'd rather prefer Synaptic
>>>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>>> it.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> The Synaptic and Smart interfaces are very similar, which is not
>>>>>>>> too surprising given their history, and some changes are pending
>>>>>>>> to make them even more similar. Such as the group pane or columns,
>>>>>>>> are there any other features from Smart missing that you require ?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I'd rather also have the Description view first, and rename the
>>>>>>> General view to Properties and such.
>>>>>>> This way, users can be able to see what the software is about. (Some
>>>>>>> people don't even know it is there sometimes (like me at first))
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Also, I'm looking for the ability to be able to make the buttons on
>>>>>>> the toolbar at the top have names by default. Sometimes, people don't
>>>>>>> know what they mean.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> And finally, in the downloading and installation progress dialogs, it
>>>>>>> could help if you could hide all the individual progress like
>>>>>>> Synaptic.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I would have to disagree with Robert here. Under Ubuntu Smart does not
>>>>>> show
>>>>>> enough details, so I would hate to see any regression of detail.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Well, where do you mean? I've used Smart on many systems.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I have used smart on Kubuntu/Ubuntu and Mandriva and particularly during
>>>> the
>>>> install process on Mandriva smart provides detailed progress bars the
>>>> same
>>>> as what it displays for the associated downloads. Under Kubuntu/Ubuntu it
>>>> only shows a single progress bar with no details of what it is doing. I
>>>> have
>>>> raised this before and been told it is a limitation of dpkg, in that it
>>>> does
>>>> not provide the same feed back as that provided on rpm systems. So what I
>>>> am
>>>> saying is I would hate to see the download progress go the same way as
>>>> the
>>>> install process, as from my perspective that would make smart unusable.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Well, that is. What I'm saying is that we should be able to show/hide
>>> the individual progress.
>>> Because some of us want it and some of us don't.
>>>
>>> For dpkg, why don't they just show a Terminal?
>>>
>>>
>>
>> As I understand it, Smart does not run in the mode that is required for a
>> terminal, but I also understand that it is possible to supply a parameter to
>> smart to get it to run in the required mode. I understand that to get smart
>> to run in a mode similar to packagekit/synaptic you need to configure
>> debconf.
>>
>> There are several frontends to debconf, so it needs to be configured...
>> The most common ones are: "dialog", "noninteractive", "gnome", "kde"
>>
>> See debconf(7): http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/man7/debconf.7.html
>> The default is "dialog", while PackageKit backend uses "noninteractive".
>>
>> I am not averse to smart being able to run in the mode you are suggesting as
>> long as it is easily configurable, I just don't want to see that information
>> disappear and not be able to be displayed again.
>
>
> Wow, we're piling up a nice list of things to-do :)
> *note to self: post these on launchpad :P*
>
> Another thing I want to point out is when you exit smart-gui; The
> "Saving Cache" dialog is totally unnecessary, and freezes smart before
> closing. Have it done in the background...


Opened list of bugs on launchpad :)

>
>>
>> regards,
>> Steve
>>
>>>> regards,
>>>> Steve
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> regards,
>>>>>> Steve
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I'll file bugs in launchpad, but I just wanted to express what I see
>>>>>>> could help :) Smart is a great project that shouldn't die away.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> [1] https://bugs.launchpad.net/smart/+bug/387289
>>>>>>>> [2] https://bugs.launchpad.net/smart/+bug/493630
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> --anders
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
>
> --
> later, Robert Xu
>

-- 
later, Robert Xu