ANN: tla-buildpackage

[John Goerzen <jgoerzen@complete.org>]

Hi,

The tla-buildpackage system has been accepted into unstable.  It is designed
to provide cvs-buildpackage-like features for tla/Arch.

The system comes with these programs:

* tbp-initarchive
  Designed to initialize a tla archive and a working directory for use
  with tla-buildpackage.

* tbp-importdsc
  Imports Debian source packages.  You can use this to import a full
  change history into your archive, or to use as a starting point.

* tbp-importorig
  Imports upstream sources only; takes a tar.gz file or a directory.

* tbp-markdeb
  Quick shortcut that marks a tla configuration for a given Debian
  release (similar to tagging in CVS)

* tla-buildpackage
  Builds a Debian package based on information in the archive,
  checking out upstream versions as necessary.  It also passes proper
  parameters to debuild to ensure that tla temporary data is excluded
  from generated source packages.

The package also includes a comprehensive 24-page manual in PostScript and
HTML, and of course, manpages for each command.

Current weaknesses:

* Does not yet work with Debian native packages.  I'm not sure if this
  is a bug that needs fixing; tla itself works well in this situatoin
  already.

* A few things take more steps than they should; more automation will be
  added. 

* Directory layout is somewhat rigid (but is documented).

I am already using it for my own packages and have had good success.

-- John