Package sets / categories
by a.out from LinuxQuestions.org on (#4XGXQ)
Because I do not want to further misuse the "PAM and Kerberos" thread, for an off-topic subject, I have opened a new thread.
As I have understood, "the package sets" are not an "dependency resolution system". Unfortunately the wording in the setup program, HOWTOs and READMEs are misleading and suggest partly otherwise, as they stem from the floppy disk days. If it expected (and not only recommended if you have enough disk space) to do a full installation, then this should be clearly mentioned.
While most of us know Slackware pretty well, are aware of some of the limitations, this is not necessarily the case for new users and I hope that Slackware still caters for them.
A new user might think, that he/she does not need "development packages", since he/she does not do software development, but may be unaware that for example Python may have become an essential system component. This was not always the case, but the "--enable-python" compilation flag is slowly creeping into the system, and this without adaptation of the documentation. AWK (gawk) and shell (bash) are system components since a very long time and Python is increasingly filling this role.
As I have understood, "the package sets" are not an "dependency resolution system". Unfortunately the wording in the setup program, HOWTOs and READMEs are misleading and suggest partly otherwise, as they stem from the floppy disk days. If it expected (and not only recommended if you have enough disk space) to do a full installation, then this should be clearly mentioned.
While most of us know Slackware pretty well, are aware of some of the limitations, this is not necessarily the case for new users and I hope that Slackware still caters for them.
A new user might think, that he/she does not need "development packages", since he/she does not do software development, but may be unaware that for example Python may have become an essential system component. This was not always the case, but the "--enable-python" compilation flag is slowly creeping into the system, and this without adaptation of the documentation. AWK (gawk) and shell (bash) are system components since a very long time and Python is increasingly filling this role.