Package Descriptions?

Raccroc · n00b Joined: 08 Sep 2002 Posts: 46 Location: Austin

I'm curious if anyone has done any work adding descriptions/description fields to the ebuild packages?

My biggest problem with Gentoo right now is trying to find utilities/apps I am used to using, but cannot quite remember the names of. Distro's like Red Hat install and set up default many apps I'm used to using, sometimes I'm looking for something I've seen on a screenshot, sometimes it for a task which I don't normally do. I end up having to hit http://www.gentoo.org/index-packages.html and click through dozens of links to get to various descriptions in order to find something I want.

What would be great is if there was either a text file in the portage tree containing the program descriptions, or possibly an emerge switch which calls up the description directly from it (possibility as an accent to the --pretend switch to list what all it needs at what all they are).

meyerm · Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2002 10:25 pm Post subject:

Well, there is some short discription in the ebuilds. You can search them with "emerge -S keyword". When you only want to search for program names you must search with "emerge -s keyword".

Raccroc · n00b Joined: 08 Sep 2002 Posts: 46 Location: Austin

Yes, but there doesn't seem to be any way get descriptions in reverse (w/o going to Gentoo's package web page).

Example:

If you are looking for an http benchmarking utility, you might be able to find one with emerge -s (untested).

If you want to know what the "siege" package is (a http benchmarking utility), you have to go to http://www.gentoo.org/packages/app-benchmarks/siege.html to get that infomation.

Naan Yaar · Bodhisattva Joined: 27 Jun 2002 Posts: 1549

emerge -s gives you the package description too.

rac · Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2002 11:06 pm Post subject:

Raccroc, if you haven't seen it already, you might be interested in Package descriptions and change logs. There's a little hack in there to automatically extract some URLs from an ebuild's HOMEPAGE variable.
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Raccroc · n00b Joined: 08 Sep 2002 Posts: 46 Location: Austin

Thanks. I'll look check out both suggestions.
I missed the whole Package descriptions and change logs link in my search, sorry about the redundant post.

pjp · Administrator Joined: 16 Apr 2002 Posts: 20067

Raccroc · n00b Joined: 08 Sep 2002 Posts: 46 Location: Austin

Nope. That is exactly what I was looking for. Somehow I seemed to have missed that (I'll chalk it up as a momentary lapse of stupidity).

Thanks for everyones help and replys.