[csw-users] New project: JPack - install your software easily

[Michal Pryc]

>>> One question, though: is there any reason why
>>> configuration can't be similar to Synaptic -- where you add
>>> repositories to an overall config, and all packages from all
>>> repositories are shown together in the same "available" list?
>>>       
This was also an idea, but as for now I dropped it (Probably at some 
point I might return to it), but I wanted to separate packaging systems 
to not confuse people. JPack in current version is an prototype, and I 
am really open for any kind of productive ideas :-)
>> I think most Solaris admins will agree that what we *really* need is a good
>> dependency/conflict resolution infrastructure a la Debian apt. I know, I know, this
>> might be way out of scope of this particular project which is just a GUI front-end like
>> Synaptic.  But anyway I had to say it.  It's just that Solaris is such a great kernel and OS,
>> but package management (let's not talk about patch management) is terrible, Debian is
>> light years away.  And it's not so much the dpkg format, it's APT.
>>     
I would really recommend reading (quite long) thread about Indiana 
Project[0], which also covers packaging in Solaris.
>> Blastwave is a small step in the right direction, and that's why it's so popular.  
>>     
Blastwave is a nice set of packages, that is why I have decided to 
support it in my project, but have also some problems (creates another 
userland)

JPack is a project, that will not solve existing problems with 
packaging. It's just a tool for managing packages as simple as possible, 
which will not depend on any packaging system. This is quite different 
concept from Synaptic, which will allow users to use the same tool when 
the packaging system will change.

[0] https://www.opensolaris.org/jive/thread.jspa?threadID=30361&tstart=0

-- 
Michal Pryc