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

Wed Mar 4 07:51:37 CET 2015

Hi Mathieu,

thanks a lot for your help with this! I just did some minor polishing, and the 
result is now on CRAN.

I tried to make the resulting page validate cleanly, but as the README.html is 
only included in the <body> of the index page, I do not think there is a way 
to include the stylesheet with valid html. The rest of the html validates 
without errors.

I am now using a separate README.css - improvements welcome!

Kind regards,

Johannes

Am Dienstag, 3. März 2015, 10:26:51 schrieb 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.
-- 
PD Dr. Johannes Ranke
Kronacher Str. 8
79639 Grenzach-Wyhlen