[packagekit] Res: One click install support in PackageKit

[Debayan Banerjee]

Dear list,
I have been discussing this topic simultaneously on 2 lists because of
the nature of the problem. Here are the 2 threads:

[1] http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/packagekit/2009-March/004569.html

[2] http://groups.google.com/group/redhat-summer/browse_thread/thread/50de9e16d5407b9c

I think its time to summarise my proposal. The way I see it, there are
4 things to do:

1) Add .oci support to package-kit.
2) Add pluggable policies
3) Add voting system to package manager
4) A server that receives these votes and maintains a list of repos in
sorted order. The distro maintains this. Leave it to the user which
repo he wants to add now.

Explanation:
1)Add .oci support to package-kit:
This involves adding C code to Package-Kit. Much of the work has been
done by Dorian Perkins and is available here .

2)Pluggable Policies:
The policy of what to allow to install will not be agreed
across all distributions.
So instead of discussing a policy that will never get unanimous
approval the install policy pluggable, and allowing the distribution
to choose the policy may be better.
Some example policies would be

* Only allow packages in the distribution itself
* Only allow packages that are whitelisted or in whitelisted repository
* Allow installation of anything that is not on a blacklist
* Allow installation of anything"
(In words of Benji Webber)

3) Add voting system to Package Manager:
The word trust has mean something that the end user understands, as
opposed to GPG keys. One way of defining trust is by votes. It is my
proposal that we enable a voting system at the package manager end so
that every time a repository is added and a package installed for the
first time users are asked for a "Recommend" vs "Do not recommend"
vote. Conversely, every time a user disables/removes a repository he
is asked whether he votes "Do not recommend". These votes go to a
centrallised server

4) A server that receives votes and maintains a listing of
repositories in sorted order:
We could make modifications to <https://admin.fedoraproject.org/pkgdb>
so that it provides one-click-install links to all packages thus.
Similar efforts are at , and .

I shall go ahead and submit this proposal in more detail.

-- 
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