162 lines
6.2 KiB
HTML
162 lines
6.2 KiB
HTML
<html>
|
|
<head>
|
|
<title>PackageKit</title>
|
|
<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css" type="text/css" media="screen"/></center>
|
|
</head>
|
|
<body>
|
|
|
|
<table align="center" class="title">
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td><center><img src="img/packagekit.png"/></center></td>
|
|
<td width="95%" valign="middle"><p class="title">Screenshots</p></td>
|
|
<td><center><img src="img/packagekit.png"/></center></td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
</table>
|
|
|
|
<p>Back to the <a href="index.html">main page</a></p>
|
|
|
|
<h1>Frequently asked questions</h1>
|
|
|
|
<h3>How complete are the backends?</h3>
|
|
<h4>Methods</h4>
|
|
<pre>
|
|
| conary | yum | apt | box | alpm | smart | pisi |
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
resolve | | X | | X | | X | X |
|
|
refresh-cache | X | X | X | X | | X | X |
|
|
get-updates | X | X | | X | | X | X |
|
|
update-system | X | X | | X | | X | X |
|
|
search-name | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
|
|
search-details | | X | X | X | | X | X |
|
|
search-file | | X | | X | | | X |
|
|
search-group | | X | | | | | X |
|
|
install-package | X | X | | X | X | X | X |
|
|
install-file | | X | | X | | X | X |
|
|
remove-package | X | X | | X | X | X | X |
|
|
update-package | | X | | X | | X | X |
|
|
get-depends | | X | | X | | X | X |
|
|
get-requires | X | X | | X | | | X |
|
|
get-description | X | X | X | X | | X | X |
|
|
get-files | | X | | X | | X | X |
|
|
get-update-detail | | X | | | | | |
|
|
get-repo-list | | X | | X | X | X | X |
|
|
repo-enable | | X | | X | | X | |
|
|
repo-set-data | | X | | X | | | X |
|
|
cancel-transaction| | X | | | | | X |
|
|
</pre>
|
|
|
|
<h4>Filters</h4>
|
|
<pre>
|
|
| conary | yum | apt | box | alpm | smart | pisi |
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
installed | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
|
|
development | | X | X | X | | | |
|
|
gui | | X | X | X | | | X |
|
|
</pre>
|
|
|
|
<h3>What if the backend package manager doesn't support percentage updates?</h3>
|
|
<p>
|
|
You don't have to have a backend that supports percentage updates.
|
|
If you don't know the progress, just emit NoPercentageUpdates and then the UI
|
|
should just do the right thing and spin.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3>With all the differences between backends, how will PackageKit support all the different options?</h3>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Backends don't have to support all options of all methods.
|
|
Just set an error and return false if not implemented.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3>But error codes are different on each backend?</h3>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Error codes have to be standardized so they can be localized.
|
|
The error detail field can just be the untranslatable output.
|
|
If you are creating a backend and you need another error enum, mention it
|
|
and we can add it to the supported list.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3>How will PackageKit handle installation an application that needs user interaction?</h3>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Upgrading, installing or removing packages <b>has to be 100% silent</b>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The user cannot be prompted for questions "set applet setuid?" as these will
|
|
not be handled in PackageKit.
|
|
The backend should do the right thing, as these messages mean very little to
|
|
the average user and cannot be translated.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3>Does PackageKit replace up2date?</h3>
|
|
<p>
|
|
PackageKit does not replace up2date.
|
|
PackageKit is a way for users to interact with the packaging system, not for an
|
|
administrator to install software on remote machines.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3>Is PackageKit a system daemon, always running and using resources?</h3>
|
|
<p>
|
|
PackageKit is not yet another system daemon.
|
|
It quits when not doing anything, and only starts when something wants
|
|
information or a task completed.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3>How does PackageKit handle dependencies?</h3>
|
|
<p>
|
|
PackageKit <b>does not do</b> dependency resolution.
|
|
This problem has already been solved by the backend systems and we don't really
|
|
want to re-invent the wheel.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
PackageKit does not have the fine-grained API to do everything.
|
|
For instance, synaptic should still use libapt as can do much more than can be
|
|
provided by PackageKit.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3>Does PackageKit replace the Red Carpet service?</h3>
|
|
<p>
|
|
PackageKit is not a replacement to red carpet.
|
|
Red carpet was really great and years ahead of it's time, but tried to do
|
|
everything package related on the system, and moved onto the enterprise
|
|
centralized management model.
|
|
Although cool, this latter point made things too political in my opinion.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3>How fast is PackageKit?</h3>
|
|
<p>
|
|
PackageKit is really fast.
|
|
It takes about 1 second to search for installed and available packages
|
|
with "power" in the description - no blocking of the UI happens at all as it's
|
|
all asyncronous.
|
|
All the applications start instantly with no root password needed at startup.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3>How does PackageKit work with multiple users?</h3>
|
|
<p>
|
|
PackageKit is designed from the ground up to work with fast user switching and
|
|
logging in and out of sessions during upgrades.
|
|
You can start a system upgrade, log out, log in as another user, and be notified
|
|
when the upgrade is complete, all without risking your rpmdb.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3>Can users still use their normal package managers and backends, such as Yum, APT or Conary?</h3>
|
|
<p>
|
|
PackageKit does not stop you using the low level tools yourself.
|
|
You can use rpm and yum or dpkg and apt when PK is inactive (99.999% of the time)
|
|
when you really need some command line love.
|
|
No more fighting over <code>yum</code>, <code>yum-updatesd</code>,
|
|
<code>pup</code> and <code>pirut</code>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3>Is there an organization or corporation sponsoring development of PackageKit?</h3>
|
|
<p>
|
|
PackageKit is not sponsored by anyone.
|
|
Whilst interning at RedHat I spent a few days on the API and some UI designs,
|
|
but all the coding is done in my free time.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Back to the <a href="index.html">main page</a></p>
|
|
|
|
</body>
|
|
</html>
|
|
|