Consolidate opkg package categories with dpkg categories

[pander]

Please consolidate the opkg pakcage categories so that they are compatible with categories from dpkg.

Do this in collaboration with  http://opkg.org See details below.

Consolidating this will increase package portability and conform with categories of major GNU/Linux distribution.

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On 2008-12-23 Pander wrote to community @ lists.openmoko.org:

Hi all,

At the moment these are the opkg categories (as seen on  http://opkg.org):

Audio
Games
GPS
Graphics
Internet
Office
PIM
Settings
System
Utility
Video

Would it be more appropriate to use the relevant Debian/Ubuntu? dpkg
categories? Because most of the packages also exist and/or originate from
.deb packages. They use the following (as seen on
 http://packages.ubuntu.com/en/intrepid/):

Administration Utilities
Base Utilities
Communication Programs
debian-installer udeb packages
Development
Documentation
Editors
Electronics
Embedded software
Games
GNOME
Graphics
Ham Radio
Interpreters
KDE
Library development
Libraries
Mail
Mathematics
Miscellaneous
Network
Newsgroups
Old Libraries
Other OS's and file systems
Perl
Python
Science
Shells
Sound
TeX
Text Processing
Translations
Utilities
Virtual packages
Web Software
X Window System software

I'd like to suggest the following consolidation from opkg package
categories to dpkg categories:

Administration Utilities <- opkg Settings
Base Utilities <- opkg System
Editors <- opkg Office
Games <- opkg Games
Graphics <- opkg Graphics and some GPS
Miscellaneous <- opkg GPS
Sound <- opkg Audio
Text Processing <- opkg Office
Utilities <- opkg Utility and some GPS

While looking into this, perhaps a new category called GPS needs to be
added to the Debian/Ubuntu? world.

In short wat was the reason for these alternative categories and is this
consolidation of categories welcomed?

Regards,

Pander

=====
Reply from Marc Bantle:

I'd go for category "Geo" instead of GPS
being a autonomous subcategory of "Sience"
as is "Mathematics".

Cheers,
Marc

=====
Reply from Minh Ha Duong:

Hi,

It is nice to see someone interested in this question again. Last time we discussed it on the "documentation" mailing list, there was a consensus to:

• Adopt as a reference the freedesktop.org applications categories.
• Deviate from it when there is a good reason to (because we recognize that a freesmartphone is not a freedesktop !).
• Eventually go back upstream to them with our propositions.

This is not only relevant for opkg.org, but also for projects.openmoko.org, wiki.openmoko.org, package managers and "main application launcher".
Because these are decentralized, it will be especially hard to get the same category list everywhere. I think we are in need for a champion, someone who will work diplomatically with others towards harmonizing the categories.

Minh

[spaetz]

This is something set in Openembedded and they have their own category specification:
 http://docs.openembedded.org/usermanual/html/section_variable.html

Having said that, there are many packages in weird or wrong sections indeed and could need improvement.