Shaman (yet another package manager)

[kubicle]

http://drfav.wordpress.com/2009/12/0...ment-frontend/

I hope we'll get this one in kubuntu eventually as an option (if not as default). I've used shaman on Arch and it's very similar to synaptic that many still prefer as a package manager in kubuntu.

"Shaman2" brings support for apt and packagekit backends, along with other improvements, and looks quite promising. This could very well be "the power-user package manager for KDE".

[Ole Juul]

Re: Shaman (yet another package manager)

This could be good. It sounds like it might have some flexibility. However the actual GUI implementation shown looks like it has the same problem as I've noticed with others in that it uses odd categories which to me defeats the purpose of such an organizational plan. An example of what I mean is the multimedia category which I've noticed contains most audio programs. There is no logical reason for that and you have to know ahead of time, in which case they might as well just give the category a number. I don't know for sure that that is what they have done, but it looks like it. Until categories are based on some underlying logic which is easily understood, or at least clearly defined, there is a problem there. That's just my two cents worth on the organization of the GUI front end. It does sound like the organization of the code is likely to be well thought out, and that is really the most important thing in the end. I'm looking forward to seeing a KDE implementation.

[kubicle]

Re: Shaman (yet another package manager)

However the actual GUI implementation shown looks like it has the same problem as I've noticed with others in that it uses odd categories which to me defeats the purpose of such an organizational plan. An example of what I mean is the multimedia category which I've noticed contains most audio programs. There is no logical reason for that and you have to know ahead of time, in which case they might as well just give the category a number. I don't know for sure that that is what they have done, but it looks like it. Until categories are based on some underlying logic which is easily understood, or at least clearly defined, there is a problem there.

The problem is that package managers can't really tell what is in the package (and they have to rely on the "section" information provided by the packagers). And of course some packages could easily belong to several categories, which can be confusing.

But you don't have to browse packages by categories, you can browse "all packages", or "by repository" or just use the feature-rich search option.

All that said, shaman (and synaptic) are best described as power-user frontends, and people who want simpler interfaces are better of with other tools.

[MoonRise]

Re: Shaman (yet another package manager)

I actually like that it blends well with KDE. I use synaptic, but it has that other look I'm not fond of. I might just give this a try as I really don't like KDE's current package system. Thanks!

[dibl]

Re: Shaman (yet another package manager)

It looks like a very nice project -- well thought out. I'm with Ole Juul, though -- the less a priori knowledge that users must bring to the package to make it work, the better the reception will be.

[exploder]

Re: Shaman (yet another package manager)

I actually like that it blends well with KDE. I use synaptic, but it has that other look I'm not fond of. I might just give this a try as I really don't like KDE's current package system. Thanks!

You can make Synaptic blend in with KDE 4 by using this command.

sudo cp .gtkrc-2.0-kde4 /root/.gtkrc-2.0

I use Synaptic because Package Kit does not display residual config files and Synaptic does everything.

[Rog131]

Re: Shaman (yet another package manager)

Shaman was proposed for the Karmic > Kubuntu Karmic Specs (rev 7). It did disappear after the revision 33. (Final > Kubuntu Karmic Specs)

Sources (Shaman 2) can be found from the > The KDE Source Repository - /[KDE]/trunk/playground/sysadmin/shaman

[sithlord48]

Re: Shaman (yet another package manager)

looks like it could be useful , also a some how fitting name for a package manager

[MoonRise]

Re: Shaman (yet another package manager)

I actually like that it blends well with KDE. I use synaptic, but it has that other look I'm not fond of. I might just give this a try as I really don't like KDE's current package system. Thanks!

You can make Synaptic blend in with KDE 4 by using this command.

sudo cp .gtkrc-2.0-kde4 /root/.gtkrc-2.0

I use Synaptic because Package Kit does not display residual config files and Synaptic does everything.

Thanks! That helped. Still liked the looks of this project though.

[sithlord48]

Re: Shaman (yet another package manager)

I actually like that it blends well with KDE. I use synaptic, but it has that other look I'm not fond of. I might just give this a try as I really don't like KDE's current package system.

yea kpackagekit is a mess , this would be a shoe in for the "add/remove" in system settings. kinda a mix of kpackagekit's foward vision , and the power adept/synaptic does look promising... now that i look at it more i might give it a try my self

[Rog131]

Re: Shaman (yet another package manager)

> Kubuntu-devel >> Shaman, Debian, APT, Kubuntu, and stuff:

Dario Freddi
Mon Dec 21 20:17:33 GMT 2009

Hello people,

You might or might not have noticed my post on planet KDE about Shaman (
drfav.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/introducing-shaman-a-new-universal-package-
management-frontend/ ). I have come to the point where the backend API is
enough stable to be developed on...

More > [kubuntu-devel] Shaman, Debian, APT, Kubuntu, and stuff

[toad]

Re: Shaman (yet another package manager)

When I first delved into Arch I used Shaman - despite its bugginess. Now that it has been revamped and overhauled for kde4 it is even buggier imo. I hardly ever use it 'cos it just seg faults as every possible opportunity.

It also lacks - similar to synaptic - the ability to grep and filter. Fair play, you can select which repo and then filter within that repo but you cannot filter the results in any way. Ah, whatever happened to the good old adept? It was capable of all of the above without ever signing off in the middle of things...

[Qqmike]

Re: Shaman (yet another package manager)

@toad, re the good ol' Adept ... yep, it worked perfectly for me, too, still does in 8.04.3. Another example of regressing features in new releases.

[Ole Juul]

Re: Shaman (yet another package manager)

I still use adept, except where I know the pkg name - then I use apt. The idea of constantly changing programs for any given task is wrong to me. I keep using things as long as possible. I have (and use) programs that go back to 1984 which still work the way they were designed. I'd hate it if they deprecated ls (the lister) and wrote a new one with different switches and then called it something else. It's just counter-productive to constantly change. Software shouldn't "wear out" like shoes do, IMHO. There are so many wonderful advantages to FOSS - the constant deprecation of software is not one of them.

[Vistaus]

Re: Shaman (yet another package manager)

@toad, re the good ol' Adept ... yep, it worked perfectly for me, too, still does in 8.04.3. Another example of regressing features in new releases.

Yep, even Adept for KDE 4 worked better and is more user-friendly than KPackageKit will ever be. It also had an easy software install/remove module, like on Ubuntu pre9.10 (Applications>>>Add/Remove software).