[packagekit] RFC: Add a GetTestingUpdates method?

[Jud Craft]

On Mon, Dec 15, 2008 at 3:16 AM, Richard Hughes <hughsient at gmail.com> wrote:
> A fedora specific updater might be the best idea actually.
> gnome-packagekit-experimental or gnome-packagekit-fedora. We could do
> some cool stuff in a seporate applet.

I do like that idea, because 1) it allows you to accomodate Fedora's
needs as you see fit, and 2) it provides a useful case study in how a
client may make use of the PackageKit interface to provide expanded
software management solutions.

You could even hypothetically create a Tester-Kit framework abstracted
well enough that other distributions could use it as well, but that
may be diminishing returns; other distros may not face the same
testing/testers dilemna that Fedora has, and you may gain a more
effective solution for Fedora by focusing on it immediately.

Such a solution would need some basic ideas to make it palatable to
the potential testing user, which probably include extra filters (a
user may want to search only for experimental drivers for his
hardware, for example), an ability to keep track of the replaced
stable packages and downgrade back to them as needed, and an easy way
to pull up the currently used Testing updates, and submit feedback on
them (I believe Fedora's site has a portal where users give feedback
on testing updates, and this ultimately helps determine whether they
are accepted?  "Tester-Kit" could possible integrate with this).

The idea being, I suppose, to empower the casual Linux user (not
necessarily a power-user, but a user in between "just installed the
distro" and "I roll my own shell-scripts") to easily install
experimental updates and see how well they function, with a failsafe
way to return his system to working order if necessary.  (It may not
be possible to develop a testing-package-management-framework so
flexible, but I think it's agreeable that this is what would be good
to a user).

And now this may be outside the focus of PackageKit-list.  :)