[med-svn] r5550 - trunk/community/papers/11_med-floss_luxemburg

[Andreas Tille]

Author: tille
Date: 2010-12-09 08:31:15 +0000 (Thu, 09 Dec 2010)
New Revision: 5550

Modified:
   trunk/community/papers/11_med-floss_luxemburg/paper-text.tex
Log:
Another patch provided by Yaroslav Halchenko (Thanks!)


Modified: trunk/community/papers/11_med-floss_luxemburg/paper-text.tex
===================================================================
--- trunk/community/papers/11_med-floss_luxemburg/paper-text.tex	2010-12-09 08:14:44 UTC (rev 5549)
+++ trunk/community/papers/11_med-floss_luxemburg/paper-text.tex	2010-12-09 08:31:15 UTC (rev 5550)
@@ -227,52 +227,64 @@
 packages.  To specify packages of one's particular interest, several
 options are provided by Debian:
 \begin{description*}
-\item[tasksel] Provision of a reasonable selection of rather general
+\item[tasksel] Provision of a reasonable software selection for rather general
   tasks that can be accomplished using a set of packages installed on
   a Debian GNU/Linux system.  However, these are not yet covering
-  scientific applications. The Blend toolkit which is currently
-  developed will also support \command{tasksel} to enable selecting
-  for instance Debian Med right after a fresh installation of a
+  scientific applications. Currently developed Blend toolkit
+  will also support \command{tasksel} to enable selection of \emph{niche}
+  software collections, \emph{e.g.} Debian Med, right after a fresh installation of a
   general Debian system.
+% yoh: don't we want ideally "during a fresh installation of a Debian system"?
+% at: we would *want* this but unfortunately we would need our own
+%     adapted ISO image to approach this
 
-\item[command line package management] \command{apt} provide means to
+\item[command line package management] \command{apt} and \command{aptitude} provide means to
   search for packages of particular interest by its name or words in
   the package's description. Every package also indicates, as set by
   its maintainer, references to other packages of potential interest.
 
+% yoh: what about
+%    debtags + axi-cache (at)
+%    "Similar packages" on packages.debian.org?
+% at: yes, needs to be added here and also in Blends documentation
+
 \item[GUI] There are several graphical user interfaces to manipulate
   the installation of packages on a Debian installation.  The most
-  popular is currently \command{synaptic} which eneables users to seek
-  for certain packages and displays detailed information about each
+  popular is \command{synaptic}.  It allows users to seek
+  for certain packages and to display detailed information about each
   package.
 \end{description*}
 
-Debian officially maintains 13 different architectures with many more
-not officially supported ports to other operating systems, which
-includes some that run another flavour of UNIX. Its technology for
-package management has been adopted for other operating systems,
-i.e. Fink on MacOSX
+Debian officially maintains 13 different architectures.  Additionally
+there exist not supported  officially ports to other architectures and
+operating systems cores. Debian package management and distribution infrastructure
+has been adopted to other operating systems lacking an built-in equivalent,
+\emph{i.e.} Fink on MacOSX
 (\printurl{fink.sourceforge.net}{fink.sourceforge.net}).
 
-A {\itshape distribution\/} is a collection of software packages
-around the GNU Linux operating system that satisfies the needs of the
-target user group.  There are general distributions, which try to
-support all users, and there are several specialised distributions,
-which each target a special group of users.
+% yoh: context below is not necessary about GNU and even more so
+%      not about Linux
+A {\itshape distribution\/} is a collection of software packages.
+There are general distributions, which do not have a specific target
+user group and try to provide a universal coverage,
+and there are several specialised distributions targeting specific groups of users.
 
 {\itshape Distributors\/} are those companies that are building these
-collections of software around the GNU Linux operating system.  Since
-the software is Free, the user who buys a distribution pays for the
+collections of software.  Since the software provided by GNU/Linux distributions
+is Free, the user purchasing a copy of the distribution pays for the
 service that the distributor is providing.  These services might be:
 \begin{itemize*}
-  \item Preparing a useful collection of software around GNU Linux.
-  \item Caring for smooth installation that the target user is able to
-    manage.
-  \item Providing software updates and security fixes.
-  \item Writing documentation and translations to enable the user to
-    use the distribution with maximum effect.
-  \item Selling Boxes with ready to install CDs and printed
-    documentation.
+  \item Preparing a collection of the software for the target domain of
+    use nicely integrated within a uniform environment.
+  \item Guaranteeing overall quality of the product and smooth
+    installation procedure.
+  \item Making software accessible to the users by writing
+    documentation to enable the usage of the system with maximum
+    effect.
+  \item Assuring robust performance with timely software updates and
+    security fixes.
+  \item Providing technical support and troubleshooting.
+  \item Selling installation media and printed documentation.
   \item Offering training and qualification.
 \end{itemize*}
 
@@ -283,37 +295,40 @@
 
 In 2003 to 2005 the advent of several adapted distributions with a
 focus on bioinformatics and medicine could be observed.  Most of them
-were Knoppix\cite{knopper:2005} (and thus indirectly Debian) based.
-The motivation for such distributions was, that it simply was possible
-for a quite small team of less than five people to issue some kind of
-a product which had the following features:
+were based on Knoppix\cite{knopper:2005} (and thus indirectly on Debian).
+The motivation behind was to allow
+a quite small team of less than five people to release
+a product with the following features:
 \begin{itemize*}
   \item easy to assemble
-  \item fit the personal needs of this specific work group
-  \item cute web page intended to attract users
-%% FIXME should be mentioned  later in comparison to Debian Med
+  \item tailored for the personal needs of this specific work group
+  \item attractive web appearance
+\end{itemize*}
+
+As a result, often some goals had to be relaxed, resulting in
+\begin{itemize*}
   \item sloppy about policy of the underlying Debian system
   \item sloppy about the licenses of the included programs
 \end{itemize*}
 
-It is hard to estimate the user base of these distributions but it can
-be assumed that it was basically used inside the institution where the
-developers are working because it is usually an offspring of their
-daily work.  As a consequence of this there was usually no great
-effort done to set up some bug tracking system or other means for an
-effective user interaction (frequently used mailing list, active IRC
-channel etc.)
+It is hard to estimate the user base of such distributions but it can
+be assumed that they were basically used inside the institution where
+developed.
+As a consequence, usually no much
+effort was taken care about setting up a complete support
+infrastructure: bug tracking system, active mailing lists,
+forums, IRC, etc.
 
 %FIXME: security!
 
-It turned out that this was to distribute Free Medical Software is not
-very sustainable.  Some of these distributions issued only one single
-release, others stayed longer but they are continuously draining
-manpower.  So there are no security updates available and the
-distribution persists in the state of general software tools at the
-point in time when the fork from Debian / Knoppix / other distribution
-was done.  The latter fact makes this approach to distribute software
-for sensible medical data unacceptable.
+It turned out that such approach for the distribution of Free Medical Software is not
+very sustainable.  Some of these distributions issued only a single
+release, others remained afloat longer but continuously loosing
+manpower.  So no security updates were made available and the
+distribution of general software tools persisted in the state of
+when the fork from Debian / Knoppix / other distribution
+was done.  The latter fact made such an approach to distribute software
+unacceptable for sensible medical data.
 
 That's why Debian Med has a different approach.  The initial team was
 also quite small but has grown in the eight years of existence to more