freepbx-modules

[Daniel Watkins]

Hello all,

As some of you may be aware, FreePBX is almost entirely modular.  As a
result, to get any sort of usability from the freepbx package, some
modules need to be installed.

Currently in the pkg-voip repository, there is a 'freepbx-modules'
package, which contains a script which downloads whatever the latest
modules from upstream are, where they are distributed and released
independently of one another, and generates debian/control sections,
preinst and postinst scripts and a list of installable files for each of
them.  A separate binary package for each module is created.

I don't particularly like this, as the script essentially reimplements a
package management system, with much less testing than apt actually has.
Furthermore, if any of the modules (there are currently 54) is released,
then all of the packages have to be updated.

I'm not really sure of the best way to solve this, but I'm fairly sure
what exists at the moment is not it.  To my mind, there are a number of
options available:
      * continue using the existing method, with a single source package
        and many binary packages
      * have a single source package and a single binary package
      * package each upstream module as a separate source package
      * package a few 'core' modules as a single source package and
        package the rest of the modules as separate source packages
      * continue using a single source package generating many binary
        packages, but remove some of the magic that makes it happen

I'm not really sure which of these is best, or even if this is an
exhaustive list.  Any input would be appreciated.


Thanks,

Dan