Slack-desc

Overview

A proper slack-desc file should be written as follows:

# HOW TO EDIT THIS FILE:
# The "handy ruler" below makes it easier to edit a package description.  Line
# up the first '|' above the ':' following the base package name, and the '|' on
# the right side marks the last column you can put a character in.  You must make
# exactly 11 lines for the formatting to be correct.  It's 

also customary to

# leave one space after the ':'.

# HOW TO EDIT THIS FILE:
# The "handy ruler" below makes it easier to edit a package description.  Line
# up the first '|' above the ':' following the base package name, and the '|' on
# the right side marks the last column you can put a character in.  You must make
# exactly 11 lines for the formatting to be correct.  It's 

also customary to

# leave one space after the ':'.
       |-----handy-ruler------------------------------------------------------|
appname: appname (Short description of the application)
appname:      <this line is generally left blank>
appname: Description of application  -  this description should be fairly
appname: in-depth; in other words, make it clear what the package does (and 
appname: maybe include relevant links and/or instructions if there's room),
appname: but don't get too verbose.  
appname: This file can have a maximum of eleven (11) lines of text preceded by
appname: the "appname: " designation.  
appname:
appname: It's a good idea to include a link to the application's homepage too.
appname:

The "appname" string must *exactly* match the application name portion of the Slackware package (for example, a package titled "gaim-1.5-i486-1.tgz" must have a slack-desc file with the <appname> string of "gaim: " rather than "Gaim: " or "GAIM: " or something else.

The first line must show the application name followed by a short description (enclosed in parentheses).

The "handy ruler" is meant to stop you at 79 characters, because the standard console is 80x25 and if you go beyond this the words will wrap.

The space after the : is needed only when there is text after the : In the above example lines 9 & 11 should not have a space after the :

Tools

1. There is a command-line tool that automates the creation of slack-desc files and helps you generate legal slack-desc files with minimal effort: http://slack-desc.sourceforge.net/

2. A web-based tool is also available at: http://www.linuxpackages.net/slackcreator.php

See Also

man makepkg
man pkgtool