* Explicitly add Packages: task-fields lines to all the tasks in tasks/

so it's less of a special case from how task definitions generally work.
* Key packages are always included in a task, and need not be explicitly
  listed by the Packages field, although it's ok if they are.
* Allow package list programs to output the list separated by any
  whitespace, not just newlines.
* Pass params from Packages: fields to the program that is run.
* Add a "list" method, supporting easy user-defined tasks with no coding
  or overrides hacking needed, vis:
    Packages: list
      package-1
      package-2
      ...
* Some docs improvements in this area.

Makefile

@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ install:
 	for test in tests/*; do \
 		install -m 755 $$test $(DESTDIR)/usr/lib/tasksel/tests/; \
 	done
+	for package in packages/*; do \
+		install -m 755 $$package $(DESTDIR)/usr/lib/tasksel/packages/; \
+	done
 
 clean:
 	rm -f $(TASKDESC) *~

README

@@ -10,45 +10,51 @@ On exit, tasksel executes the appropriate command to install the selected
 packages. If the -t option is given, then tasksel prints out the command
 line to use to stdout instead. All other messages are printed to stderr.
 
-To get a new task added, please file a bug report on tasksel.
+To get a new task added to Debian, please file a bug report on tasksel.
 
 Debian derived distributions can add a new .desc file to
 /usr/share/tasksel/ to add additional tasks, or modify/divert
 debian-tasks.desc to remove tasks.
 
 The file format is a rfc-822 style stanza, with fields named Task, Section,
-Description (which should include an extended description), Key, Depends, 
-and optional Test- and Source fields. Here is an example:
+Description (which should include an extended description), Key, Packages, 
+Depends, and optional Test- and Source fields. Here is an example:
 
-Task: desktop
+Task: graphical-games
 Section: user
 Relevance: 10
-Description: Desktop environment
- This task provides basic "desktop" software, including a variety
- of session managers, file managers and web browsers. It incorporates
- both the GNOME and KDE desktops, and provides a display manager
- which lets the user choose between the two.
+Description: Graphical games
+ This task provides a variety of graphical games. Old-school unix games are
+ not included.
 Key:
-  x-window-system-core
-  kde
-  gnome
-Packages: task-fields
+ x-window-system-core
+Packages: list
+ quake
+ myst
+ monkey-island
 
 The Key field lists packages that are essential to the task. If those
 packages are not available, then the task will not be available either. It
 need not list all the packages in the task, if some only serve to make it
-better when they are available.
+better when they are available. All Key packages will be selected for
+installation when a task is installed.
 
 The Packages field tells how to get a complete list of packages that are in
-the task. In the example above, it uses the task-fields method, which is
-built into tasksel, and looks for Task fields in the control data of available
-packages, that list the name of the task. Another built-in method is
+the task. In the example above, it uses the "list" method, which is defined
+in /usr/lib/tasksel/packages/list. This simple method just lets you list
+the packages you want to include in the task in the following lines.
+
+In Debian, we mostly use the "task-fields" method, which is built into
+tasksel, and looks for Task fields in the control data of available
+packages, that list the name of the task. Another available method is
 "standard", which just installs all standard priority packages.
 
 It's also possible to define other methods, by adding programs to
-/usr/lib/tasksel/packages/. Then list the name of the program as the value
-for the task field, and it will be run and passed the name of the task, and
-should output a list of packages in that task.
+/usr/lib/tasksel/packages/. Then list the name of the program as the first
+word of the task field, and it will be run and passed the name of the task as
+its first parameter and any further lines of the task field as its other
+parameters, and should output a list of packages in that task. The "list"
+method described above is a simple example of such a program.
 
 There is support for automatically installing tasks based on test programs.
 If a task has a Test-* field, then a program in /usr/lib/tasksel/tests/

TODO

@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-- standard priority task
-- see bts for more..

debian/changelog

@@ -10,8 +10,22 @@ tasksel (2.31) UNRELEASED; urgency=low
 
   [ Joey Hess ]
   * Fix dutch tasks. Closes: #323415
- 
- -- Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>  Tue, 16 Aug 2005 20:31:21 -0400
+  * Explicitly add Packages: task-fields lines to all the tasks in tasks/
+    so it's less of a special case from how task definitions generally work.
+  * Key packages are always included in a task, and need not be explicitly
+    listed by the Packages field, although it's ok if they are.
+  * Allow package list programs to output the list separated by any
+    whitespace, not just newlines.
+  * Pass params from Packages: fields to the program that is run.
+  * Add a "list" method, supporting easy user-defined tasks with no coding
+    or overrides hacking needed, vis:
+      Packages: list
+        package-1
+        package-2
+        ...
+  * Some docs improvements in this area.
+
+ -- Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>  Wed, 24 Aug 2005 17:31:01 -0400
 
 tasksel (2.30) unstable; urgency=low
 

makedesc.pl

@@ -94,10 +94,6 @@ sub processfile {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (exists $fields{"packages-list"}) {
-		$fields{packages}="task-fields";
-	}
-	
 	foreach (qw{task section relevance description key depends packages}, 
 	         grep(/^test-(.*)/, keys %fields)) {
 		print OUT ucfirst($_).": ".$fields{$_}."\n" if length $fields{$_};

packages/list

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+shift 1 # task name
+echo $@

po/tasksel.pot

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ msgid ""
 msgstr ""
 "Project-Id-Version: PACKAGE VERSION\n"
 "Report-Msgid-Bugs-To: \n"
-"POT-Creation-Date: 2005-06-11 07:41+0200\n"
+"POT-Creation-Date: 2005-08-24 21:31-0400\n"
 "PO-Revision-Date: YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE\n"
 "Last-Translator: FULL NAME <EMAIL@ADDRESS>\n"
 "Language-Team: LANGUAGE <LL@li.org>\n"
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ msgstr ""
 "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=CHARSET\n"
 "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n"
 
-#: ../tasksel.pl:305
+#: ../tasksel.pl:324
 msgid ""
 "Usage:\n"
 "tasksel install <task>\n"
@@ -29,6 +29,6 @@ msgid ""
 "\t    --task-desc     returns the description of a task\n"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: ../tasksel.pl:483 ../tasksel.pl:499 ../tasksel.pl:516
+#: ../tasksel.pl:502 ../tasksel.pl:518 ../tasksel.pl:535
 msgid "aptitude failed"
 msgstr ""

tasks/README

@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ information to make related sets of tasks appear together.
 
 See the toplevel README for details about the file format. The files in
 this directory are preprocessed and may include comments by prefixing any
-line with a hash mark ("#"). Also, the Packages field is used in these files
-to list the packages that are part of each task, like so:
+line with a hash mark ("#"). Also, the Packages-list field is used in these
+files to list the packages that are part of each task, like so:
 
 Packages-list:
  foo

tasks/arabic

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Description: Arabic environment
  to use Debian.
 Key:
   language-env
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
   xfonts-intl-arabic
   ttf-arabeyes

tasks/arabic-desktop

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Section: l10n
 Description: Arabic environment
  This task localises the desktop in Arabic.
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
   kde-i18n-ar
   openoffice.org-l10n-ar

tasks/brazilian-portuguese

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ Description: Brazilian Portuguese environment
 Key:
 # language-env  - Need add support first.
  manpages-pt
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list: 
 # Dictionaries
  ibrazilian

tasks/brazilian-portuguese-desktop

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Maintainer: Otavio Salvador <otavio@debian.org>
 Description: Brazilian Portuguese desktop
  This task localises the desktop in Brasilian Portuguese.
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list: 
  mozilla-locale-ptbr
  kde-i18n-ptbr

tasks/bulgarian

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Description: Bulgarian environment
  Bulgarian speakers to use Debian.
 Maintainer: Anton Zinoviev <zinoviev@debian.org>
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  aspell-bg
  ibulgarian

tasks/bulgarian-desktop

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Description: Bulgarian desktop
  This task localises the desktop in Bulgarian.
 Maintainer: Anton Zinoviev <zinoviev@debian.org>
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  kde-i18n-bg
  myspell-bg

tasks/catalan

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Description: Catalan environment
  to help Catalan speaking people use Debian.
 Key:
  language-env
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  aspell-ca
  icatalan

tasks/catalan-desktop

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Maintainer: Jordi Mallach <jordi@debian.org>
 Description: Catalan desktop
  This task localises the desktop in Catalan.
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  kde-i18n-ca
  koffice-i18n-ca

tasks/chinese-s

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ Description: Simplified Chinese environment
 Key:
   jfbterm
   zhcon
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
   zh-autoconvert
   debian-zh-faq-s

tasks/chinese-s-desktop

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Section: l10n
 Description: Simplified Chinese desktop
  This task localises the desktop in Simplified Chinese.
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
   rxvt-ml
   mlterm

tasks/chinese-t

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ Description: Traditional Chinese environment
 Key:
   jfbterm
   zhcon
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
   zh-autoconvert
   debian-zh-faq-t

tasks/chinese-t-desktop

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Section: l10n
 Description: Traditional Chinese environment
  This task localises the desktop in Traditional Chinese.
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
   rxvt-ml
   mlterm

tasks/cyrillic

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ Maintainer: Anton Zinoviev <zinoviev@debian.org>
 Key:
  # Cyrillic on the console:
  console-cyrillic
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  # Easy configuration for some languages:
  language-env

tasks/cyrillic-desktop

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Description: Cyrillic desktop
 Maintainer: Anton Zinoviev <zinoviev@debian.org>
 Key:
  t1-cyrillic
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  # Keyboard state indicator and switcher for X:
  xxkb

tasks/czech

@@ -5,5 +5,6 @@ Description: Czech environment
  This task installs packages and documentation in Czech
  to help Czech speaking people use Debian.
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  iczech 

tasks/czech-desktop

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Section: l10n
 Description: Czech desktop
  This task localises the desktop in Czech.
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  kde-i18n-cs
  mozilla-firefox-locale-cs-cz

tasks/danish

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ Description: Danish environment
  to help Danish speaking people use Debian.
 Key:
  language-env
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  aspell-da
  idanish

tasks/danish-desktop

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ Depends: desktop, danish
 Section: l10n
 Description: Danish desktop
  This task localises the desktop in Danish.
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  kde-i18n-da
  koffice-i18n-da

tasks/database-server

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ Description: SQL database
  locking.
 Key:
  postgresql
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list: 
  postgresql-client
  pgaccess

tasks/desktop

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Description: Desktop environment
  Gnome and KDE desktop tasks.
 Key:
   x-window-system-core
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
   menu
 # firefox is the most popular web browser at the moment, although both

tasks/dns-server

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Description: DNS server
  Selects the BIND DNS server, and related documentation and utility packages.
 Key:
  bind9
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  bind9-doc
  dnsutils

tasks/dutch

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ Description: Dutch environment
 Maintainer: Frans Pop <fjp@debian.org>
 Key:
 # language-env      # Does not support Dutch
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
 # manpages-nl       # Outdated
   idutch

tasks/dutch-desktop

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Description: Dutch environment
  This task makes the desktop be localised in Dutch
 Maintainer: Frans Pop <fjp@debian.org>
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
   kde-i18n-nl
   mozilla-firefox-locale-nl-nl

tasks/file-server

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ Description: File server
 Key:
  nfs-kernel-server
  samba
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  netatalk
  samba-doc

tasks/french

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Description: French environment
 Key:
  language-env
  manpages-fr
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  doc-linux-fr-text
  doc-debian-fr

tasks/french-desktop

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Section: l10n
 Description: French desktop
  This task localises the desktop in French.
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  xfonts-intl-european
  kde-i18n-fr

tasks/german

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Description: German environment
 Key:
  language-env
  manpages-de
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  wngerman
  wngerman

tasks/german-desktop

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Section: l10n
 Description: German desktop
  This task localises the desktop in German.
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  kde-i18n-de
  mozilla-locale-de-at

tasks/gnome-desktop

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ Description: Gnome desktop environment
 Key:
 # The basics of gnome, not the whole thing.
   gnome-desktop-environment
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
   gnome
 # gnome whines if there's no xscreensaver

tasks/greek

@@ -8,5 +8,6 @@ Description: Greek environment
 Key:
  language-env
  # fonty
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  # none

tasks/greek-desktop

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Maintainer: Konstantinos Margaritis <markos@debian.org>
 Description: Greek desktop
  This task localises the desktop in Greek.
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  xfonts-intl-european
  #xfonts-efont-unicode

tasks/hebrew

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Description: Hebrew environment
  This task installs programs and documentation in Hebrew
  to help Hebrew speaking people use Debian.
 Maintainer: Shlomi Loubaton <loubaton.shlomi@012.net.il>
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  libfribidi0
  bidiv

tasks/hebrew-desktop

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Description: Hebrew desktop
  This task localises the desktop in Hebrew.
 Maintainer: Shlomi Loubaton <loubaton.shlomi@012.net.il>
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  hspell-gui
  kde-i18n-he

tasks/italian

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Description: Italian environment
 Key:
  language-env
  manpages-it
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  apt-howto-it
  aspell-it

tasks/italian-desktop

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Section: l10n
 Description: Italian desktop
  This task localises the desktop in Italian.
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  xfonts-intl-european
  mozilla-locale-it

tasks/japanese

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ Key:
  language-env
  jfbterm
  manpages-ja
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  ja-trans
  lv

tasks/japanese-desktop

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Section: l10n
 Description: Japanese desktop environment
  This task localises the desktop in Japanese.
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  kterm
  xfonts-intl-japanese

tasks/kde-desktop

@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ Key:
   kdenetwork
   kdeutils
   kdepim
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
   kde
   openoffice.org-kde

tasks/korean

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ Key:
  language-env
  jfbterm
  manpages-ko
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  doc-debian-ko
  doc-linux-text-ko

tasks/korean-desktop

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Section: l10n
 Description: Korean desktop
  This task localises the desktop in Korean.
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  imhangul
  nabi

tasks/laptop

@@ -3,13 +3,13 @@ Section: user
 Description: Laptop
  This task installs software useful for a laptop.
 Test-laptop: 1
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
 # TODO: probably ought to make the list dynamic depending on the laptop
 # model, etc
  acpid
  apmd
  acpi
- apm
  pcmcia-cs
  wireless-tools
  xfree86-driver-synaptics

tasks/lithuanian

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Description: Lithuanian environment
  to help Lithuanian speaking people use Debian.
 Key:
  language-env
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  # fonty
  aspell-lt

tasks/lithuanian-desktop

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Maintainer: Kęstutis Biliūnas <kebil@kaunas.init.lt>
 Description: Lithuanian desktop
  This task localises the desktop in Lithuanian.
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  # kde-i18n-lt
  openoffice.org-l10n-lt

tasks/mail-server

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Description: Mail server
  server system.
 Key:
  exim4
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  qpopper # HELP: What's a good pop server?
  mailx

tasks/norwegian

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ Maintainer: Petter Reinholdtsen <pere@debian.org>
 Key:
  locales
  language-env
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  util-linux-locales
  wnorwegian

tasks/norwegian-desktop

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Description: Norwegian (Bokmaal and Nynorsk) desktop
  This task localises the desktop in Norwegian.
 Maintainer: Petter Reinholdtsen <pere@debian.org>
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  kde-i18n-nb
  kde-i18n-nn

tasks/polish

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Description: Polish environment
 Key:
  manpages-pl
  language-env
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  fonty
  konwert

tasks/polish-desktop

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Section: l10n
 Description: Polish desktop
  This task localises the desktop in Polish.
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  xfonts-biznet-iso-8859-2-base
  xfonts-biznet-iso-8859-2-75dpi

tasks/print-server

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Key:
  cupsys
  cupsys-client
  cupsys-bsd
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  foomatic-gui
  foomatic-db-engine

tasks/romanian

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ Key:
  locales
 #there is no manpages-ro package at the moment
 # manpages-ro
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  console-terminus
  util-linux-locales

tasks/romanian-desktop

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Description: Romanian desktop
  This task localises the desktop in Romanian.
 Maintainer: Eddy Petrişor <eddy.petrisor@gmail.com>
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
 # fonty
  xfonts-terminus

tasks/russian

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ Maintainer: Peter Novodvorsky <nidd@debian.org>
 Key:
  language-env
  manpages-ru
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  console-cyrillic
  irussian

tasks/russian-desktop

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Description: Russian desktop
  This task localises the desktop in Russian.
 Maintainer: Peter Novodvorsky <nidd@debian.org>
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  # This package is rarely used, but the Russian support of
  # language-env requires it:

tasks/slovak

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Description: Slovak environment
  This task installs packages and documentation in Slovak
  to help Slovak speaking people use Debian.
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  aspell-sk
  fonty

tasks/slovak-desktop

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Section: l10n
 Description: Slovak desktop
  This task localises the desktop in Slovak.
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  kde-i18n-sk
  openoffice.org-l10n-sk

tasks/spanish

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Description: Spanish environment
 Key:
  language-env
  manpages-es
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list: 
 # Dictionaries
  ispanish

tasks/spanish-desktop

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Section: l10n
 Description: Spanish desktop
  This task localises the desktop in Spanish.
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list: 
 # Broken at the moment
 # mozilla-locale-es

tasks/swedish

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Description: Swedish environment
 Maintainer: Per Olofsson <pelle@dsv.su.se>
 Key:
  locales
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  util-linux-locales
  wswedish

tasks/swedish-desktop

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Description: Swedish desktop
  This task localises the desktop in Swedish.
 Maintainer: Per Olofsson <pelle@dsv.su.se>
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  kde-i18n-sv
  koffice-i18n-sv

tasks/thai

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ Key:
  language-env
  xiterm+thai
  xfonts-thai
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  nonlock
  cttex

tasks/thai-desktop

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Section: l10n
 Description: Thai desktop
  This task localises the desktop in Thai.
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  kde-i18n-th
  openoffice.org-l10n-th

tasks/turkish

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ Key:
  language-env
  locales
  manpages-tr
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  console-terminus
  util-linux-locales

tasks/turkish-desktop

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Description: Turkish desktop
  This task localises the desktop in Turkish.
 Maintainer: Recai Oktas <roktas@omu.edu.tr>
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  xfonts-terminus
  kde-i18n-tr

tasks/ukrainian

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Description: Ukrainian environment
 Maintainer: Eugeniy Meshcheryakov <eugen@univ.kiev.ua>
 Key:
  language-env
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  console-cyrillic
  aspell-ukr

tasks/ukrainian-desktop

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Description: Ukrainian desktop
  This task localises the desktop in Ukrainian.
 Maintainer: Eugeniy Meshcheryakov <eugen@univ.kiev.ua>
 Key:
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  xfonts-bolkhov-koi8u-75dpi
  xfonts-bolkhov-koi8u-misc

tasks/web-server

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ Description: Web server
  system.
 Key:
  apache2-mpm-prefork
+Packages: task-fields
 Packages-list:
  apache2-doc
  libapache2-mod-php4

tasksel.pl

@@ -184,9 +184,16 @@ sub task_packages {
 	my $task=shift;
 	my $aptitude_tasks=shift;
 	
-	my @list;
+	my %list;
+
+	# key packages are always included
+	if (ref $task->{key}) {
+		map { $list{$_}=1 } @{$task->{key}};
+	}
+		
 	if ($task->{packages} eq 'task-fields') {
-		# task-fields method is built-in for speed.
+		# task-fields method is built-in for speed and to support
+		# aptitude task definitions
 		if ($aptitude_tasks) {
 			return '~t^'.$task->{task}.'$';
 		}
@@ -197,7 +204,7 @@ sub task_packages {
 				if (/^Task: (.*)/m) {
 					my @tasks=split(", ", $1);
 					if (grep { $_ eq $task->{task} } @tasks) { 
-						push @list, $1 if /^Package: (.*)/m;
+						$list{$1}=1 if /^Package: (.*)/m;
 					}
 				}
 			}
@@ -211,9 +218,21 @@ sub task_packages {
 	}
 	else {
 		# external method
-		@list=grep { package_avail($_) } split("\n", `$packagesdir/$task->{packages} $task->{task}`);
+		my ($method, @params);
+		if (ref $task->{packages}) {
+			@params=@{$task->{packages}};
+			$method=shift @params;
+		}
+		else {
+			$method=$task->{packages};
+		}
+		
+		map { $list{$_}=1 }
+			grep { package_avail($_) }
+			split(' ', `$packagesdir/$method $task->{task} @params`);
 	}
-	return @list;
+
+	return keys %list;
 }
 
 # Given a task hash, runs any test program specified in its data, and sets