hmm - reason for installing package...

kant1 · 2008-10-15 17:49:08

All,

I'm not sure if this issue has been brought up before, but I want to get some feedback about a pacman idea that I had.

pacman -Qi lets you see dependencies for installed packages. It helps you see why you installed a package. Super helpful. But it doesn't show everything.

Sometimes you've installed a package because there was an install-time recommendation for another package. Or perhaps I was writing a python program and tried out a library, but then later used a different library and so the library is still installed, but not being used. In cases like these, there may be no clean way to hook up an installed package with the "reason" it was installed.

My idea is to have some type of flag on pacman where I can record the reason I'm installing a package (or group of package). Then that reason will be stored for when I run pacman -Qi later on. It can just be a one-line piece of text. No need for anything fancy.

pacman -S python-sqlobject --reason "trying this for project blah"

It might also be helpful to have a flag where you can set the "reason" on a package after it's already been installed.

pacman -Q python-sqlobject --reason "trying this for project blah"

Then, later:

> pacman -Qi python-sqlobject
Repository     : extra
Name           : python-sqlobject
Version        : 0.10.1-1
URL            : http://sqlobject.org/
Licenses       : LGPL  
Groups         : None
Provides       : None
Depends On     : python>=2.5  setuptools>=0.6c8  python-formencode>=0.7  
Optional Deps  : None
Conflicts With : None
Replaces       : None
Download Size  : 278.70 K
Installed Size : 1108.91 K
Packager       : Eric Belanger <eric@archlinux.org>
Architecture   : i686
Build Date     : Tue 27 May 2008 06:21:26 PM PDT
MD5 Sum        : c3898c5caa7df3f63f04d7afa71fa6d8
Description    : A popular Object Relational Manager for providing an object
                 interface to your database, with tables as classes, rows as
                 instances, and columns as attributes
Reason : trying this for project blah

I envision this being extremely helpful when cleaning up and administering packages on my system (for me personally).

Can anyone see the benefit of this? Has this already been brought up? Are there simpler solutions people are already using? ...

ezzetabi · 2008-10-16 07:51:27

it is a good idea, but none cares it seems...

Maybe you have better luck in bugzilla?

Or why not you add it? both pacman and libpalm source should be available.

Last edited by ezzetabi (2008-10-16 07:52:00)

kant1 · 2008-10-16 15:22:53

If I added the feature would it be accepted, or would I have to patch every pacman release through abs?

Allan · 2008-10-16 15:32:06

These sorts of things are better discussed on the pacman-dev list where all the pacman developers will see the idea.

rson451 · 2008-10-16 16:31:27

I actually think this is a pretty good idea, but I'm not sure how many would use it. I often run across packages on my system and don't remember installing them even though pacman says I did it explicitly

fukawi2 · 2008-10-16 21:51:59

I'd use it (once I got used to remembering to enter it).

Perhaps a config option in pacman.conf to set pacman to prompt you for a reason? Of course, it would accept "" as a reason, but just as a reminder.

Arch Linux

#1 2008-10-15 17:49:08

hmm - reason for installing package...

#2 2008-10-16 07:51:27

Re: hmm - reason for installing package...

#3 2008-10-16 15:22:53

Re: hmm - reason for installing package...

#4 2008-10-16 15:32:06

Re: hmm - reason for installing package...

#5 2008-10-16 16:31:27

Re: hmm - reason for installing package...

#6 2008-10-16 21:51:59

Re: hmm - reason for installing package...

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