Re: February update on data.guix.gnu.org and the Guix Data Service

[Pierre Neidhardt]

Hi Christopher!

Thanks for the details!

>> Back to the
>> http://data.guix.gnu.org/repository/1/branch/master/package/mame page, I
>> don't really understand what the first version means.  If I click on the
>> latest date, I end up here:
>>
>> http://data.guix.gnu.org/revision/3dd311e3a059131ef245417106d4fb659222ef3c
>>
>> This is Guix, not MAME, right?  I wonder why we display this here, I
>> find it a bit confusing.  I think the version table should explicitly
>> mention that this is the Guix revision, not that of the package
>> (assuming I understood correctly).
>
> I'm not quite sure what you're referring to on that page when you say
> "first version" or "latest date", but what this page is meant to show is
> how the version of the package on the master branch changes over
> time.
>
> Each row of the table represents a time period, the From column links to
> the Guix revision at the start of the period, and the "To" column links
> to the Guix revision at the end of that period. The Version column gives
> the package version for that period.
>
> I realise the links in the the From and To columns aren't
> intuitive. You're saying there's the possibility of confusing the Guix
> revision and MAME releases here, right?

Exactly.

I looked at it again and this time I think I understand your intent.

A quick fix would be to rename the links:

- Dates: "Guix 2020-02-02 11:33:01"
- Package Info: "Mame derivation" (instead of "More information").

That said, I wonder if the presentation is right.

- The table format is a bit counter intuitive for what really is a
  timeline, I think.
  It took me a while to see those gray rectangles ;)

- We should the first and the last derivation of a version, but we don't
  show the other ones in between.

- Why have a "To" column since the date should be that just before the
  next "From"?  It's a bit redundant.

What about this instead: Display a linear timeline of all versions, and
clicking on a version shows a new page with a timeline of all
derivations for that version.

Maybe better than a new page, we could stay on the same page and have an
expandable frame or something.

What do you think?

-- 
Pierre Neidhardt
https://ambrevar.xyz/

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