We need a tool to generate markdown for dependency information

[richlander]

We have this dependency data file: https://github.com/dotnet/core/blob/main/release-notes/6.0/runtime-deps.json

We also have the same list of dependencies in markdown: https://github.com/dotnet/core/blob/main/release-notes/6.0/linux-packages.md

The markdown data is stale and incomplete. It would be MUCH better if we had a tool that generated the markdown from the JSON file. That would further motivate us to keep the JSON file up to date.

The tool should simply generate the markdown not do something fancy like update the markdown file itself. There can be a manual copy/paste step for a human. When someone updates the JSON, they should run the tool and update the markdown at the same time.

[richlander]

Some commentary on the format, partially based on tips from Matt.

• Using RIDs is probably not the best approach.
  • We don't intend long-term to have RIDs for all platforms.
  • It isn't clear that any reader of this file really needs RIDs as a currency.
  • Also, if we do use RIDs, there needs to be a display-name lookup to present this data to users.
  • We are probably best off just using display names, only.
• Where we support multiple versions, I think it is easier to specify the default version for the distro and rely on docs / release notes to specify additional flexibility.
• For platform dependencies, I'm not sure that really matters. Who would be the target audience of this information?
• For NuGet packages, I'm wondering if it would be better to separate out those packages into a separate mirror file. That would make this system easier to adopt for others.
• For optional packages like icu, perhaps we should describe that some way and ideally include a help link for more information.

[mairaw]

Is this something on the release team's radar?