DebPPA: Debian Personal Package Archive
Hi,
I would like to create something like the Ubuntu Personal Package
Archive (PPA), but for Debian. It should be a single package, which
one just installs and it just woks. My current code is here:
http://code.google.com/p/debppa/
It's written in Django (Python) and my idea is to have a simple web
page, like PPA has, I will create a source package, upload it, compile
it by clicking on one button (it will use pbuilder/cowbuilder,
compiles for several architectures), it will show the lintian/linda
report, another button will run the package in piuparts. Then it will
contain an apt-gettable archive of source and binary packages.
So I'll install the "debppa" packge (ideally using one command) on
some machine with fast internet connection and then I'll use apt-get
on all the other machines.
Currently the code can import packages, can compile them in cowbuilder
(so only the server's architecture can be produced), show the logs,
creates and automatically updates the Debian archive of binary
packages. There are still some small issues, that need to be fixed and
polished.
In the future, I'd like to have these features:
* if the same package is in the unstable, it will show a link to the
Debian package page, together with a diff file, that I can just send
to the repective BTS for the package and everyone can just see it and
apply it himself
* multiuser support
Why do I need such a service:
When creating new packages, I sometimes need to fix some packages in
unstable. I also need to test all of them for a longer time to see if
everything works as expected, also when I fix a package I need the
binary immediatelly, usually on several computers (at work, at home,
on laptop). Also I need several architectures (at least i386 and
amd64).
When everything works, I'll try to find a sponsor, then he will have
comments, I will be iterating the package between me and him, then it
will stay for 3 weeks in the NEW queue. If the package is not mine,
I'll send the patch to the maintainer, but again, he may not agree
with it, he doesn't have to have time, sometimes he can also make a
mistake and upload a package, that doesn't build etc. etc.
So the motivation is to have a service, that would be as comfortable
as the Debian archive, but that I could operate immediatelly, so that
I can fix things for myself and also for others, who would like to add
one line into their sources.list, and also it would allow me to
propagate my fixes and new packages back to Debian, which is slow.
What is your opinion about this?
Let me know, if any of you would be interested in such a thing, or
even willing to help me with that.
Ondrej
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