Bug#807312: src:debian-installer: please provide binary package for use by debian-installer-netboot-images

[Ansgar Burchardt <ansgar@debian.org>]

Jonas Smedegaard <dr@jones.dk> writes:
> debian-installer-netboot-images currently violates Debian Policy by
> fetching debian-installer images over the network during install - see
> bug#807168.
>
> I believe¹ that debian-installer produces those pieces needed by
> debian-installer-netboot-images, and suspect that providing in a binary
> package the pieces needed for debian-installer-netboot-images could (at
> least partially) solve bug#807168.
>
> This bug marked important (not wishlist) as bug#807168 is RC.

I don't think its so easy: d-i-n-i are arch:all packages, but need
binaries for all architectures.  To get these as build-dependencies we
would need cross-arch build-deps which we don't have so far.

Alternatively building a subset of arch:all packages on every
architecture would also work, but that would require (at least) support
for the buildd network building arch:all packages on package-specific
architectures ("Build-Architecture-Indep" might find relevant threads).

Ansgar