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authorDaniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>2024-04-07 16:46:29 +0000
committerDaniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>2024-04-07 16:46:29 +0000
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treeff2df2bfaf8732840c3c3d25dc0702f13e1fa1f0 /README
parentInitial commit. (diff)
downloadtasksel-5e1454ef4562bdcc75c213624a14e83c7959b592.tar.xz
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Adding upstream version 3.73.upstream/3.73upstream
Signed-off-by: Daniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>
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+The interface uses debconf for consistency with the rest of the Debian
+installer.
+
+On startup, the tasksel program will read all *.desc files in
+/usr/share/tasksel/ for information about what tasks are available. The
+tasks will be presented in a simple list selection screen with their short
+descriptions.
+
+On exit, tasksel executes the appropriate command to install the selected
+packages. If the -t option is given, then tasksel prints out the command
+line to use to stdout instead. All other messages are printed to stderr.
+
+To get a new task added to Debian, please file a bug report on tasksel.
+Or, create a task package yourself, and then file a bug report on tasksel
+for it to be added to tasksel's UI.
+
+Debian derived distributions can add a new .desc file to
+/usr/share/tasksel/ to add additional tasks, or modify/divert
+debian-tasks.desc to remove tasks.
+
+The file format is a rfc-822 style stanza, with fields named Task, Section
+Description (which should include an extended description), Key, Packages,
+Enhances, Test-, Relevance, and Parent fields. Here is an example:
+
+Task: graphical-games
+Relevance: 9
+Parent: games
+Section: user
+Description: Graphical games
+ This task provides a variety of graphical games. Old-school unix games are
+ not included.
+Key:
+ x-window-system-core
+Packages: list
+ quake
+ myst
+ monkey-island
+
+The Key field lists packages that are essential to the task. If those
+packages are not available, then the task will not be available either. It
+need not list all the packages in the task, if some only serve to make it
+better when they are available.
+
+The Packages field tells how to get a complete list of packages that are in
+the task. In the example above, it uses the "list" method, which is defined
+in /usr/lib/tasksel/packages/list. This simple method just lets you list
+the packages you want to include in the task in the following lines.
+All Key packages will be also be selected for installation when a task is
+installed.
+
+In Debian, we have switched to using task packages, so the task files just
+list the task packages as Key, and don't list other packages in the task
+(instead they are Depends and Recommends of the task package). Another
+available method is "standard", which just installs all standard priority
+packages, and another is "manual", which, as a special case, runs aptitude
+interactively to select what to install.
+
+It's also possible to define other methods, by adding programs to
+/usr/lib/tasksel/packages/. Then list the name of the program as the first
+word of the task field, and it will be run and passed the name of the task as
+its first parameter and any further lines of the task field as its other
+parameters, and should output a list of packages in that task. The "list"
+method described above is a simple example of such a program.
+
+There is support for automatically installing tasks based on test programs.
+If a task has a Test-* field, then a program in /usr/lib/tasksel/tests/
+will be run. For example Test-lang fields cause /usr/lib/tasksel/tests/lang
+to be run. The test is passed first the name of the task, and then the
+contents of the field as parameters. The exit code of the test controls
+what to do with the task:
+
+0 - do not display, but do install task
+1 - do not display task
+2 - display task, marked for installation
+3 - display task, not marked for installation
+
+One use of these tests is in automatically selecting a language task
+appropriate for the user's locale, and hiding the rest. The lang test
+handles this by comparing the value of the Test-lang field of a task with
+the locale setting. Tests could also be used for things like automatically
+installing hardware support tasks on systems with the right hardware.
+
+There is support for tasks that enhance other tasks. If a task has a
+Enhances field, then it should only be installed if all the tasks
+listed as in that field are installed. For example, a french-desktop task
+enchances a system that has both the french and desktop tasks, and will be
+automatically installed on such a system but not others. Such tasks are
+hidden from the menu.
+
+If two tasks both enhance the same task, but only one should be selected,
+this can be accomplished by adding Test-* fields.
+
+Tasks can be children of a parent task, indicated by using the Parent
+field. For example, the desktop task is the parent of gnome-desktop,
+kde-desktop, etc. This only controls the display; child tasks are displayed
+nested underneath the parent. Only 1 level of nesting is currently
+supported. Selecting the parent task does not select any or all of
+the child tasks, nor does selecting a child task ensure that the parent
+task is installed. Instead, use dependencies between the task packages to
+express any such relationships.
+
+If a task is important enough that it should go near the top,
+give it a relevance of 1. If a task is not likely to be
+used, give it a relevance of 9. Default is 5. Relevance can only be a
+single digit.
+
+The Section field is not used by tasksel, but debian-cd currently uses it
+to determine if a task is a localization task, or a desktop task, or a
+server task.
+
+tasksel also supports preinst, postinst, prerm, and postrm scripts for
+tasks. These are run before a task is installed, and after it is removed as
+with the dpkg scripts. These scripts sould be installed in
+/usr/lib/tasksel/info/, for example, /usr/lib/tasksel/info/desktop.preinst.
+Currently they are passed no parameters, but this might change later. These
+scripts should take care not to output anything to stdout. You are not
+encouraged to use these scripts to install any packages, as in some
+situations apt can hang prompting for a CD switch if run from one of these
+scripts.