GP2X Package Management

[mongolito404]

A lightweight package manager could be great for software install/update. But the GP2X is not a networked device by default. A package manager designed to be run on a networked GP2X would probably don't have any success.

A package manager able to fetch packages from various sources and to install/update them on a SD card would probably be a better option. With a nice GUI could help a lot.

A simple GUI without depencies management but able to read packages listing from RSS sources and fetch/unarchive/copy them automagicaly could be a nice start.

 

[Firefox]

I feel very strongly that the GP2X should not have a package management system!

Package management is by far and away the very worst thing about Linux. No distribution gets it entirely right (please, no flamewar about which is best!)

Consider this:

• The GP2X is a handheld console / media player, not a workstation or server.
• It only runs one application at a time.
• It loads applications from huge SD cards into its rather large RAM.

I think that all applications should be statically linked to the furthest extent possible. I can't see a reason not to given the above.


There, got that off my chest!

 

[slygamer]

If any application requires use of a package manager, I won't be using it. Treat the GP2X like the console that it is and everything will be good.

 

[thebohemian]

Package management is by far and away the very worst thing about Linux.

I think this is entirely your own opinion and most people think quite different about package management in GNU/Linux and *BSD distributions.

 

[Firefox]

Package management is by far and away the very worst thing about Linux.

I think this is entirely your own opinion and most people think quite different about package management in GNU/Linux and *BSD distributions.

​

Yes, it is my own opinion. But many people who're new to Linux come to me for help because they've got themselves into a right pickle with package management, usually by downloading packages from all over the web that were intended for different distributions. I've seen this time and again.

 

[Dr Cain]

Package management is by far and away the best thing about Linux.
It's so nice to be able to track down all your files, and make sure that no files are orphans. w/o package management you're stuck in a mess of files that you don't know which files belongs to what, you're able to track down what version of all the libs you are using with out any real effort so you don't accidently break anything else which is often the case with out good package management.
And you don't have to use it if you don't want to, apt-get for example doesn't touch /usr/local , so you're free to do what you want with it. And since it's before everything else in the $PATH, it works great.

 

[Firefox]

*sigh*

Go on then, why does the GP2X need package management?

 

[slygamer]

It doesn't. The biggest problem here is that people are thinking of the GP2X as just another Linux PC. It's not. It's a portable entertainment player and should be treated as such. Applications should be self-contained and have no dependencies on anything else.

I'm waiting for all these people to end up with faulty NAND memory because they've been writing to it so much with their library updates. Bring on HH, and the quicker the better.