Bug#811133: game-data-packager: z_code.py produces packages which only support the engine installed at build-time

[Stephen Kitt]

On Sat, 16 Jan 2016 17:33:28 +0000, Simon McVittie <smcv at debian.org> wrote:
> [Stephen wrote]
> >> Ideally the package
> >> should use the zcode-interpreter alternative, although that isn't
> >> supported by all packages Z-Machine emulators currently, and doesn't
> >> work well with X- v. terminal-based interpreters.  
> 
> I suspect this may mean that the zcode-interpreter alternative isn't
> very well designed, and it should either be a pair of alternatives
> zcode-interpreter and x-zcode-interpreter (like www-browser and
> x-www-browser), or just assume that in practice anyone running via the
> alternative is a graphical environment (and so use a script that wraps
> frotz in x-terminal-emulator if necessary).
> 
> I think alternatives should always be thought of as an "API": when I run
> any implementation of the alternative, in a specified environment (for
> instance "in X"), with a specified set of command-line options (perhaps
> none), it does a particular desirable thing (like "plays Quake"). For
> instance, see /usr/share/doc/quake*/policy.txt for what it means to
> implement quake[2]-engine[-server]. Not every alternative actually needs
> a mini-policy like that, but it should always be possible to write one,
> and actually writing one might be a good way to focus your thoughts.

I agree. Currently the alternative is provided by gargoyle-free, jzip and
xzip; fizmo and frotz provide zcode-interpreter but don't install an
alternative. I'll file a bug on jzip to ask if it would be possible for its
alternative to open a terminal if necessary. That way we could just say that
zcode-interpreter must work from X (which doesn't exclude its working from a
terminal where appropriate).

Regards,

Stephen
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