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5 # See COPYING file distributed along with the PyMVPA package for the
6 # copyright and license terms.
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13 **************************
14 Frequently Asked Questions
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18 Why is NeuroDebian not a Pure Blend?
19 ------------------------------------
21 Because the is not need for it to become one. NeuroDebian's goal is to
22 provide software for neuroscientists using the Debian operating system, and
23 therefore the ultimate goal is to get all relevant software **into Debian**.
25 However, various reasons exist that prevent a particular software from
26 entering Debian. Some are temporary, i.e. a package is already useable, but
27 some technical bits do not meet Debian's standard yet, or a licensing issue
28 needs to be resolved first. For some software the licensing is so restrictive
29 that it cannot be distributed by Debian, and hence cannot even go into its
30 *non-free* branch. Unfortunately, sometimes these issues cannot be solved to
31 a degree that is acceptable for Debian. For some other packages Debian itself
32 is not ready yet, e.g. huge data packages with neuroscience data (:ref:`with
33 sometimes over 1GB <pkg_fsl-first-data>`)
35 NeuroDebian aims to be a platform that provides a staging area for
36 neuroscience software packages on their way into Debian. All packages are
37 properly registered with the relevant `Debian Pure Blends`_, e.g.
38 `Debian-Science Cognitive Neuroscience`_ or `Debian-Med Imaging`_. Inside
39 Debian these efforts already provide a suitable framework for this purpose,
40 and hence there is now need to establish yet another one.
42 .. _Debian Pure Blends: http://wiki.debian.org/DebianPureBlends
43 .. _Debian-Science Cognitive Neuroscience: http://blends.alioth.debian.org/science/tasks/neuroscience-cognitive
44 .. _Debian-Med Imaging: http://debian-med.alioth.debian.org/tasks/imaging
47 When does a package migrate from NeuroDebian into Debian proper?
48 ----------------------------------------------------------------
50 In short: When it is ready. The longer answer is that there is nothing
51 special to packages in NeuroDebian in comparison to packages conducted
52 elsewhere. Packaging efforts are announced to Debian via ITPs_ and the
53 packaging itself is available in some version control system -- typically in
54 the Git repositories of the `pkg-exppsy group on Debian's Alioth server`_, or
55 another VCS, or on http://mentors.debian.net.
57 The only difference is that a particular package becomes available through the
58 NeuroDebian repository before it has passed all checks for compliance with
59 Debian's standards. But even after a package becomes part of Debian the
60 NeuroDebian repository continues to provide binary packages of new versions
61 for a certain set of Debian and Ubuntu releases (aka backports).
63 .. _ITPs: http://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp
64 .. _pkg-exppsy group on Debian's Alioth server: http://alioth.debian.org/projects/pkg-exppsy/
67 How to create a mirror of the repository?
68 ------------------------------------
70 If you are interested in sponsoring storage space and bandwidth for another
71 mirror, please contact michael.hanke@gmail.com.