Re: Package review and comment wanted
Bengt Thuree <bengt@thuree.com> wrote:
>> That depends on the complexity of the installation. In most cases,
>> it is
>> highly advisable to have a separate Makefile that does the compilation
>> and installation, and in debian/rules you only call it with appropriate
>> targets and arguments.
> ok
>> Isn't there a Makefile in the upstream sources?
> Upstream.... this is the upstream. I created the package
You should try to separate non-debian-specific and debian-specific
parts, IMO.
>>>*) Should I list all the directories in the dirs (including /usr/sbin)
>> In debian/dirs, you only list the directories that you want to create
>> with dh_installdirs - e.g. directories that the upstream Makefiles
> Ok, but when I do not create the usr/sbin directory in the debian/dirs
> file the dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot fails with taget directory do
> not exist or something like this. I ended up having to put ALL my
> expected directories in this debian/dirs file.
This shows that you are missing a proper install target in your toplevel
Makefile, I'd say.
> Then the installation
> went very fine. But when I tried to remove the package, it also tried
> to remove /usr/sbin....
This is strange, and usually does not occur. I should have a different
reason than the directory being listed in debian/dirs.
>> You are packaging this as a Debian native package. You shouldn't do
>> that, unless there is good reason why nobody outside Debian would want
> So, if I am the one who creates this package, should I not create the
> package as a Debian native package?
In my opinion, no. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be documentation
written on that. But google helps somewhat to get opinions, e.g. the
thread starting with
http://lists.debian.org/debian-mentors/2001/01/msg00191.html
>> to use it. This is true for packages like debian-policy or apt-get (or
>> perhaps not even for that one), but most probably not for a backup
>> program. Consequently, you should use the manpages out of the debian
>> directory and install them in the Makefile.
> The Debian man pages are located in the docs folder as xml files, and
> compiled into man pages in the debian directory in the Makefile.
I wouldn't put the intermediate files into the debian
directory. However, in the sources I downloaded there where manpages in
the debian directory before I did any call to debian/rules. They
shouldn't be there if they are generated upon installation.
>> In the description you say that it uses afio and tar, but you don't
>> depend on tar.
> Lintian complain when I was depending upon tar.
Excuse me, I missed that tar is essential. Do you really need both? If
one of them is sufficient, you should lower the dependency on afio to
Suggests or Recommends, depending on the functionality.
Regards, Frank
--
Frank Küster, Biozentrum der Univ. Basel
Abt. Biophysikalische Chemie
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