RFC: Moving RSIBreak to KDEUtils?

[Aaron J. Seigo]

On Thursday 23 July 2009, Friedrich W. H. Kossebau wrote:
> Hi Aaron,
>
> Jeudi, le 23 juillet 2009, à 20:00, Aaron J. Seigo a écrit:
> > On Sunday 19 July 2009, Tom Albers wrote:
> > > I'm thinking about moving RSIBreak from extrageaur utls to KDEUtils. I
> > > have
> >
> > in short: why? does rsibreak provide something required for a basic
> > desktop? it seems like a very useful (and nicely done, btw :) app for
> > helping people with computer usage self-discipline, but i don't see it as
> > an application that is a must-have for a basic desktop.
> >
> > the core modules really ought to remain as "the basic stuff" with
> > extragear adding lots of colour and fun. otherwise we get hundreds of
> > niche apps in the main modules and they lose any point or purpose in
> > life.
> >
> > things like a character selector, a calculator, wallet manager
> > interfaces, disk management stuff, etc are pretty basic building blocks
> > and belong nicely in kdeutils ... things like rsi should perhaps remain
> > in extragear, however.
>
> ? Isn't kdebase supposed to deliver the basic desktop? 

basic desktop, yes. the other modules add "the basic stuff" for their 
respective categories.

> Now this is a rule new to me

it's a guideline, not a rule, and something that was discussed a fair amount 
during the kde 4.0 days.

> . And it seems not a strict one: I have never used a character
> selector.

a character selector is one of those things that may not be often used, but it 
is a basic component: without it some people can't create characters they 
need.

> How many people need a hex editor?

a hex editor in kdeutils is a bit odd indeed; it was "grandfathered" in afaik 
since khexedit had been in there for so long :) i think today if it had come 
along and khexeditor/okteta hadn't been there already, it would go into 
extragear.

> So should these move to extragear perhaps?

the hexeditor, perhaps, assuming that wouldn't cause havoc for packagers.

> And what about modules like kdesdk, kdeplasma-addons? Basic desktop?

kdesdk is basic "sdk" stuff; plasma-addons was originally in extragear and for 
a reason. it was later moved out of extragear to be released with kde software 
releases while libplasma was a moving target. packagers seemed to think this 
would be easier for them, i always thought extragear was a better place for 
it. (still do, actually)

> > what is the motivation for moving it into kdeutils, exactly?
>
> Toma gave release management as a reason, cmp. the email you replied to.
> Isn't this the only difference between the "normal" modules and extragear?

no; release management really ought to be extended to extragear, but that's 
been only half-way managed properly at this point. but if the issue is release 
management, then we'll end up with hundreds of apps in the main modules and 
there will be simply no way to communicate "these are the core applications we 
recommend for basic functionality expected from a desktop computer for 
<category>". at that point we may as well do it all as extragear. i do think 
there is real value to having a clear set of "basic apps", and the feedback 
received in past years about "kde's 3 text editors" supports that.

-- 
Aaron J. Seigo
humru othro a kohnu se
GPG Fingerprint: 8B8B 2209 0C6F 7C47 B1EA  EE75 D6B7 2EB1 A7F1 DB43

KDE core developer sponsored by Qt Software
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