[maemo-developers] [maemo-developers] ipkg vs dpkg

[From: Russell Nelson]

Matthew Allum writes:
 > Okey, but surely some of the metadata you've measured is dependant on
 > whats actually in the package ?

Yes, definitely.  The packages + package manager are a system.  But
still, my figures show that debian packages plus dpkg store 10X the
overhead of ipkgs plus ipkg.  A better comparison would probably be to
compare one apple to another apple: install the same ARM package on a
Familiar machine, and some ARM machine running Debian.

It sounds like you're saying that it's probably not appropriate to
install vanilla debian packages on the 770, and I would agree with you
if so.  IMHO it's possible to automagically process a single debian
package into a set of "small system" (not embedded system!!)
packages.  Dare I say ipkgs?  :-)

 > > How do we get there from here?
 > 
 > Somebody writes something new that kicks arse and addresses the issues
 > with dpkg and ipkg.

Hrm.  ipkg was written to address the issues with dpkg.  Are the
problems with ipkg caused by its nature as a package manager, or are
they an artifact of its implementation?  Just being a worry wart.

 > "the 770 is not an embedded system" - OK :) You understand my point
 > though - we could argue all week on if my digitial watch for example
 > was a small computer or an embedded system.

If you can install new software on it, and there's no way to predict
what application area the software might address, then it's a small
computer.  For example, the Linksys WRT54G is definitely an embedded
system, because anything it runs will be a wifi / routing /
communications application.  Is there *any* application area closed to
the 770?  I suppose "presentations", but if there's a bluetooth or
wifi VGA display, then not.

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