[R-sig-Debian] Suggestions to improve the info page of /bin/linux/debian

[Mathieu Basille]

Le 03/03/2015 10:02, Mathieu Basille a écrit :
> Hi Johannes,
>
> I didn't know what would be the best approach to modify the page—how it was
> generated, is there a central place, etc.—which is why I posted on
> r-sig-debian in the first place. Anyway, although I'm more or less familiar
> with markdown and pandoc, it was easier for me to edit directly README.html
> as it was on CRAN. Please find attached a revision with the modifications I
> suggested earlier. Again, I tried to be correct to the best of my
> knowledge, but I may not be entirely accurate.
>
> I simply edited (and formated the file) using Emacs, and manually added the
> TOC and other suggested modifications (notably reorganization). I think
> there is still room for improvement, but this should get things started. I
> cleaned the layout, but left most of the actual code and text unchanged.
>
> I think the whole page would also benefit from a CSS, e.g. for titles
> (instead of caps), but left it without it.

Ah! I just noticed that there was actually one (I must be really tired)... 
so let me rephrase that last part: I think the CSS would also benefit from 
an update, e.g. for titles (coding caps in the CSS) and the TOC, but I left 
it unchanged!

Mathieu.


>
> Best,
> Mathieu.
>
>
> Le 02/03/2015 04:09, Johannes Ranke a écrit :
>> Hi Mathieu,
>>
>> thanks for your input. It reminds me how I got involved in the Debian
>> backports, as I thought the Debian README on CRAN needed an update...
>>
>> At the moment I do not have the time to reorganize the README, so if you
>> would
>> like to go ahead and implement your changes into a README.html, I wouldn't
>> mind. Otherwise I am willing to pick up your suggestions, but it will
>> take me
>> some time to get around to do it.
>>
>>  From my work on R package vignettes I know that pandoc is able to generate
>> single html documents with linked TOC from markdown, which is more flexible
>> than the text2html stuff I am using at the moment (as well as Michael does).
>> But maybe you or someone else on this list knows another convenient way?
>> Or it
>> could be written in HTML using div tags and a hand-crafted css...
>>
>> Kind regards,
>>
>> Johannes
>>
>> Am Donnerstag, 26. Februar 2015, 15:49:58 schrieb Mathieu Basille:
>>> After Johannes set up the CRAN repository for Jessie, I had quite some
>>> trouble figuring out what any user should do to have a running and
>>> up-to-date R in Debian (particularly Testing). Part of the problem is, I
>>> think, the overwhelming documentation on the page "DEBIAN PACKAGES OF R
>>> SOFTWARE" which is provided on CRAN at /bin/linux/debian. Some information
>>> is also lacking in places.
>>>
>>> So here are a few suggestions to try to arrange this page. The main one is
>>> actually a reorganization of the whole page, which should make it easier
>>> from a user perspective. Note that I think all information I added is
>>> correct, but it might not be entirely accurate.
>>>
>>> I think the page in itself would benefit largely from the inclusion of a
>>> table of contents (with links to sections). With the page reorganized, that
>>> would follow this:
>>>
>>> INSTALLATION
>>>      ADMINISTRATION AND MAINTENANCE
>>>      PATHWAYS TO R PACKAGES
>>> BACKPORTS ON CRAN
>>>      SUPPORTED PACKAGES
>>>      DEBIAN WHEEZY (STABLE)
>>>      DEBIAN JESSIE (TESTING)
>>>      DEBIAN SQUEEZE (OLD STABLE)
>>>      DEBIAN SID (UNSTABLE)
>>>      SECURE APT
>>>      SUPPORTED PLATFORMS
>>> REPORTING PROBLEMS
>>> BACKPORTING FOR DEBIAN
>>> ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
>>>
>>> I added at the bottom of this message a few modifications of some of these
>>> (sub-)sections. The vast majority of the information is already there, so
>>> these are really minor changes, except for the Jessie sub-section.
>>>
>>> Hope this helps,
>>> Mathieu.
>>>
>>>
>>> ==========================================================================
>>>
>>> INSTALLATION
>>>
>>> With an appropriate entry in /etc/apt/sources.list *(see below according to
>>> the branch of Debian used)*, the newest R release *including recommended
>>> packages* can be installed using a command sequence like
>>>
>>>
>>> SUPPORTED PACKAGES
>>>
>>> [Remove:]   r-cran-rmatrix
>>>
>>>
>>> DEBIAN JESSIE (TESTING)
>>>
>>> As of end of January 2015, there is a new repository containing binaries
>>> for Jessie (current testing). This repository hosts all supported packages
>>> presented above, and is updated upon new R releases.
>>>
>>> To use R supported packages on Debian Jessie, simply add something like
>>>
>>>      deb http://<favorite-cran-mirror>/bin/linux/debian jessie-cran3/
>>>
>>> to the file /etc/apt/sources.list on your computer. You need to substitute
>>> <favorite-cran-mirror> by one of the mirror URLs listed in
>>>
>>>      http://cran.r-project.org/mirrors.html
>>>
>>> Alternatively, it is possible to use APT-pining to install only R-related
>>> packages from SID using Debian official repositories (/!\ Warning: should
>>> be reserved to advanced users already familiar with pining their Debian
>>> system). Simply add the supported packages (and other r-cran-* of interest)
>>> in /etc/apt/preferences with a priority greater or equal than the priority
>>> of regular testing packages:
>>>
>>>      Package: r-base r-base-core r-base-dev r-recommended r-cran-boot
>>> r-cran-cluster r-cran-class r-cran-codetools r-cran-foreign
>>> r-cran-kernsmooth r-cran-lattice r-cran-mass r-cran-matrix r-cran-mgcv
>>> r-cran-nlme r-cran-nnet r-cran-rpart r-cran-spatial r-cran-survival littler
>>> r-cran-rodbc python-rpy python-rpy2 rkward r-cran-jags r-cran-coda
>>>      Pin: release o=Debian,a=unstable,l=Debian
>>>      Pin-Priority: 900
>>>
>>>
>>> DEBIAN SID (UNSTABLE)
>>>
>>> The latest stable versions of R and R packages are readily available in
>>> official Debian SID repositories.
>

-- 

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Mathieu Basille
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University of Florida \\
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