PROPOSAL: Core size reduction "bug day"

[Lamar Owen]

On Sunday 25 July 2004 06:54, David Nielsen wrote:
> > * Gnucash (72MB).  Extras, not Core.  I have this one installed, but it
> > still is not Core functionality.

> GnuCash is a nice program, but I think someone is developing a program
> called MyBudget which seems to replace it (I dunno about functionality,
> I'm betting GnuCash is still superior at this point). Either way it
> doesn't strike me as an essential program.

Using GNUCash to balance your checkbook is like using QuickBooksPro in full 
double-entry mode to do it.  I'm going to try KMymoney, but a simple 
checkbook program is what I want.  If I want double-entry accounting, ala 
QuickBooksPro GNUcash is the right program.  But it is seriously heavyweight.

> > * kdeedu (46MB) Extras, not Core.  kdeedu-devel too.

> This would be the kids games and stuff right? I think if we keep KDE in
> Core, we should keep it all, it would only be fair.

Actually, I'm developing an infrastructure for telescope control over the 
Internet using Kstars.  See my .sig, and look at the web site, and imagine 
steering a 300,000 pound radio telescope from Australia using Kstars via 
INDI.... but it's still Extras material, IMO.

> > * MySQL. (:-P)  Red Hat shipped PostgreSQL first, but any RDBMS might
> > easily be considered Extras material.  Along goes tora.

> This would mean removing at least some of the server options in terms of
> task selection, considering that most Linux installs are still Server
> installs it might be unwise to do this, also what is Core's use-cases in
> this area?

While Linux is best known for servers, I have been running a Linux desktop 
since Red Hat Linux shipped Red Baron.  Now THAT was a browser... :-)  I'd 
like to see the server stuff split out to a separate CD, personally.  I do 
run Linux servers, lots of Linux servers, on lots of different hardware, from 
my Linksys WRT54G to a cluster of Sun Ultra 30's on Aurora 1.91 (aka Wombat).  
But I really think the server stuff could become a type of Extras in and of 
itself.  I'd love to download one CD that installed my KDE setup and nothing 
more. (I know that's a pipe dream; more likely is a core 'essentials' CD plus 
a KDE desktop CD).  I use desktop Linux here fairly pervasively for a display 
for the IRAF and AIPS++ astronomy packages.  (Oh, IRAF doesn't work right on 
FC2, but OK on FC1 due to gcc changes....)  No server packages necessary or 
wanted; I need a fairly thin client that can do remote X to the IRAF servers, 
and do e-mail and web browsing.  Linux is robust in this role.  (Michael 
Tiemann has seen my setup, which is not very large, but growing and growable)

> Is it technically possible to move a subpackage like this to Extras
> without causing havoc?

It depends upon how tightly integrated Extras and Core will be.  That's one 
reason I don't think fedora.us could do it at this stage.  Extras, to be 
truly useful as Extras, IMO, needs to be fairly tightly synced to Core so 
that, for example, postgresql-test, postgresql-contrib, and postgresql-doc 
could go in Extras and postgresql, postgresql-libs, and postgresql-server in 
Core.  Then a postgresql-postgis could be built for Extras, but I 
digress... :-)
-- 
Lamar Owen
Director of Information Technology
Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute
1 PARI Drive
Rosman, NC  28772
(828)862-5554
www.pari.edu